Organisations responsible for planning healthcare services in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire must be mindful of the inequalities people face in accessing healthcare across the region, Keele researchers have said, after identifying large differences in poor health across the area. 

Led by Professor Ross Wilkie, a research team from the School of Medicine have identified significant variation in the levels of health in adults aged 35 and over across North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, which Professor Wilkie said has major implications for healthcare policy and planning. 

As part of their study, known as MIDAS, the researchers have studied the survey data of around 4,500 people from across the region, which has enabled them to produce 23 interactive maps that highlight these inequalities. 

The maps focus on conditions including pain (such as chronic pain and back pain), mental health issues, obesity, physical inactivity, and secondary factors that impact on health such as health literacy. Two maps also indicate the proportion of people who provide care for others.    

The researchers found that the differences between areas for some health problems were substantial. For high impact chronic pain (pain that affects daily activities on most days), there is a five-fold difference between the highest and lowest areas, with prevalence ranging from 1 in 20 to 1 in 3 adults aged 35 years and over. 

The maps also highlight that there is a high proportion of people in some areas who are physically inactive (almost 60% in some areas) and obese (40% of people living in some areas). 

Crucially, some of these areas had the highest prevalence of health problems consistently across multiple conditions, suggesting that some areas of the region are particularly vulnerable to poor health. 

Professor Ross Wilkie, Professor of Public health and Epidemiology and Deputy Director of the Keele Institute of Social Inclusion, said that the size of the differences is important to highlight for future planning to reduce inequalities in North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, adding: “Whilst healthcare is important, the solutions to reducing health inequalities need to consider a wider range of factors that include, for example, the conditions in which people live, experiences they have and factors linked to deprivation. Solutions need to consider how we build trust, communities and economies.” 

The maps are available to view on the Keele website.