Health and Wellbeing in Lincolnshire
About Lincolnshire
The geography of Lincolnshire and its population demographics present specific challenges for health and wellbeing and contribute to some of the health inequalities identified within the Lincolnshire JSNA. The inequalities seen in older age groups, people who live in more deprived areas and people who live in rural areas coalesce in many coastal areas. Few areas in the UK combine all these factors in the way that Lincolnshire does.
In 2019, the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), which shows overall deprivation, ranked Lincolnshire 91st out of 151 upper tier local authorities in England, where 1st is the most deprived. The general pattern in deprivation across Lincolnshire is in line with the national trend, in so much that the urban centres and coastal strip show higher levels of deprivation than other parts of the county. The Lincolnshire coastline, particularly the towns of Skegness and Mablethorpe, are amongst the most deprived 10% of neighbourhoods in the country.
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Our Population
Lincolnshire is a largely rural county with a resident population of 768,400 (Census 2021), with a 49% male and 51% female breakdown. Lincolnshire has an ageing population with 23% of residents over the age of 65. It has an older population than a lot of other authorities (27th out of 174 upper tier local authorities), and the highest level of care homes in England (293).
The diversity of the population has increased in recent years as a result of new and emerging communities. In the 2021 Census, 89% of residents identified themselves as White British and a further 6.7% as White Other this is primarily made up of Eastern European communities.
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Health and Wellbeing in Lincolnshire
The Lincolnshire JSNA provides an overview of the health and wellbeing of Lincolnshire’s population.
Education, Employment and Skills
Education, employment and skills levels are key determinants of social-economic outcomes and can play a pivotal role in a person’s health and wellbeing. They can influence social mobility, economic independence, housing and income levels.
In Lincolnshire, although standards have risen over time, our children have performed less well on average than their peers nationally at every key stage. Raising attainment for all pupils is crucial to maintain and improve socio-economic cohesion and the productivity of communities in Lincolnshire. School leaver and graduate retention locally is known to be a challenge with the perception of more opportunities in larger cities within easy reach of the local area such as Peterborough, Nottingham, Sheffield and Hull.
Within certain groups (aged under 25 and over 50) in Lincolnshire unemployment rates remain high and despite progress, skills gaps still persist. Rurality and access to employment opportunities are barriers in some parts of Lincolnshire. The proportion of residents aged 16-64 who have no qualification is slightly above the national average, with areas with the highest proportion of residents with no or low qualifications being concentrated to the East.
More than 30% of residents in Skegness and Mablethorpe have either no qualification or are qualified to NVQ level 1. Some of these patterns are observed hyper locally within small pockets across the county. The proportion of residents of working age qualified at NVQ Level 4+ is around 10% lower than that nationally, however the proportion of residents aged 25-39 with a level 4 qualification or above is around 20% lower than that nationally.
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Housing
Lincolnshire has 333,600 households. It is estimated that of the private housing stock 18% have a serious hazard likely to cause illness or harm, 17% are low-income households, 10% have fuel poverty, 9% have falls hazards and 9% have excess cold.
Lincolnshire has high rates of fuel poverty, particularly in deprived areas where the quality of the housing tends to be poorer and in rural areas where properties are often not connected to mains gas. Poor quality, cold or overly hot housing can cause or exacerbate acute and chronic health issues leading to increased visits to GPs, hospital admissions or reliance on medications. There is a shortage of housing for older people, and a significant shortage of housing for sale or shared ownership compared to those for rent.
There is also a shortage of housing with care, both for rent and for sale, including extra care / ‘assisted living’ schemes with 24/7 care available on-site and housing schemes that offer bespoke care services, even if these are not full on-site 24/7 care.
There are also around 200 caravan sites, and approximately nearly 37,000 static caravans (Source: East Lindsey District Council) on the Lincolnshire coast (the largest concentration in Europe) with a permanent population of over 6,600 people (Source: Chief Medical Officer Annual Report, 2021). It is estimated around 30% of local caravan residents live with long-standing illness, disability or infirmity and nearly a quarter have health issues affecting mobility.
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