Mancunians have the highest proportion of preventable deaths per capita in England and Wales, MailOnline’s fascinating map reveals.
Preventable deaths are those classified by the UK statistics agency as preventable or treatable among people under 75 years of age.
Examples include deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases such as whooping cough or cancer cases where a patient could have had a different outcome if they had received care sooner.
Higher rates are considered a detrimental indicator of the population’s overall health, as well as a sign that people are having difficulty accessing timely medical care.
Nationally, the rate of such deaths per 100,000 people – a figure that allows statisticians to compare results between different areas – was 238 deaths per 100,000 people in England and 274 deaths per 100,000 in Wales.
However, some parts of the country had rates well above the national average.
Analysis by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which broke down rates by NHS area, found people in Manchester had the highest figure in the country.
Mancunians recorded 316 preventable deaths per 100,000 people, the highest rate in both England and Wales and a third above the national average.
In real terms, this meant that 7,266 people in the Manchester region died from completely preventable or treatable health conditions.
Other areas in England that recorded the highest rates were South Yorkshire with 299 deaths per 100,000 people and the Black Country in the West Midlands with 292 such deaths. These represented 3,608 and 2,907 actual deaths, respectively.
By contrast, Surrey’s population had the lowest preventable death rate in England, with just 172 deaths per 100,000. This represented 1,559 fatalities.
In Wales, the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board in the south-east region of the country recorded the highest preventable death rate at 315 deaths per 100,000 people. This represented 1,728 actual preventable deaths.
This was followed by Swansea Bay University Health Board in south-west Wales and Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board in south Wales, with 307 and 281 deaths per 100,000 people respectively.
Swansea Bay University Health Board recorded 1,728 actual deaths, while Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board recorded 1,152.
Powys Teaching Health Board in east Wales recorded the lowest preventable mortality rate in the country, with just 215 deaths per 100,000 population, with 322 actual deaths.
Wales’ highest overall preventable death rate comes as other Labor data shows one in 20 patients on its NHS are waiting a year for treatment compared to just 0.5 per cent of those in England .
ONS data looking at different preventable death rates by region does not break down deaths by cause of death.
But national figures show the number of deaths from alcohol and drugs is rising.
Substance abuse deaths have risen to almost 13,000 in England and more than 800 in Wales in 2022.
Both figures represent significant increases compared to pre-pandemic figures, when the count was 10,511 and 667 respectively.
Experts have blamed excess alcohol during the Covid pandemic, as well as increasing abuse of opiates, including heroin and prescription drugs, for ruining the lives of Britons.
Commenting on the overall data, Veena Raleigh, senior researcher at think tank The King’s Fund, said it demonstrated the state of accessible healthcare in the UK.
“This is both a damning criticism of the quality of our public health policies and healthcare services, and further evidence of the poor and deteriorating health status of the population,” he said.
‘With the NHS waiting list for treatments over seven million, including more than 400,000 people waiting for potentially life-saving cardiac care, and long waits to see a GP, the forecast for improving health population in the short and medium term looks bleak. ‘
It also highlighted that many of the areas of England with higher rates of avoidable mortality were also areas where people were poorer, suggesting inequality was killing some Britons before their time.
“This heavy burden of preventable disease and mortality has devastating consequences for individuals, families, communities and the economy,” he said.
“Preventing poor health and reducing premature deaths is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges of our time.”
Another worrying aspect of the overall ONS data on preventable deaths was the increase in such deaths among children in England.
In 2022, 1,248 such deaths were recorded among newborns and 19-year-olds, a rate of almost 10 per 100,000 inhabitants.
This is an increase from the previous two years, when the rate was approximately 9 and 8 deaths per 100,000 in 2021 and 2020, respectively.
However, the analysis suggests that rather than an increase, this is a return of the country to post-pandemic norms.
Data breaking down these preventable deaths by cause shows that the number of children who died from injuries and illnesses plummeted during the lockdown years of 2020 and 2021, compared to historical norms.
This is suspected to be related to the lockdown that disrupted usual activities and exposures that resulted in these preventable deaths.
So while the numbers for 2022 are increasing compared to more recent years, this comes to a similar level to that seen before the pandemic.
Manchester recorded 316 preventable deaths per 100,000 people, the highest rate in England and a third above the national average.
Deaths from substance abuse have continued to rise compared to before the pandemic, with 25.9 deaths per 100,000 in England in 2022 and 30.2 per 100,000 in Wales (file image).