Introduction
This is an updated report on health inequalities that forms part of the ICB’s response to NHS England’s Statement on Information on Health Inequalities (duty under section 13SA of the National Health Service Act 2006) that describes information that the ICB should collect, analyse and publish as part of addressing health inequalities. Last year’s report is available here.
It is intended that information within this report should be used by services and boards to inform service improvement and reductions in healthcare inequalities.
The report covers ten domains and - where possible - focuses on variables by: sex/gender, age, deprivation and ethnicity. The indicators align to the five priority areas for addressing healthcare inequalities set out in national priorities and operational planning guidance and the Core20PLUS5 approach.
Data has either been sourced from existing anonymised data sources (e.g. SUS) or tools/dashboards that have been made available via NHS England. Where available, data corresponds to the 2024–25 financial year, although this is not always possible especially for externally published datasets.
This report provides a high-level descriptive overview to monitor activity and will be used to inform deeper analysis where needed to help reduce healthcare inequalities.
To navigate this report, the contents panel on the left provides access to the ten domains and their indicators. Within each section, results can be filtered by variable type (sex/gender, age, deprivation, ethnicity), where available.
1 Elective Recovery
1.1 Size and shape of the waiting list
The data presented below is for all patients still awaiting treatment as of week ending 26th May 2025. The data is for all patients across all treatment services and all referral types (urgent, two-week and routine) combined and is designed to show a high-level summary that may indicate potential inequalities.
Note that there are likely to be different case-mixes within each group, whilst the treatment service and referral type are also likely to affect wait times which could potentially skew some of the data.
Note that due to small numbers, this data has been filtered to include male and female stated genders only.
Note that patients without a valid age have not been included in this data.
Note that patients without a valid LSOA area of residence are not included in this data. LSOA is required to match to deprivation quintile.
Note that the large number of patients with an Unknown ethnicity could potentially skew this analysis. This is indicative of data quality issues with patient ethnicity not always properly captured.
The above charts show that:
Female patients have a slightly longer median wait time of 15 weeks compared to male patients (14 weeks). Statistical tests also identified a significant difference between the two groups, indicating female patients have longer waits.
Patients in the middle age group (18 to 44 years old) have the longest median wait time of 16 weeks, the youngest (aged 0 to 17 years old) and oldest (65+) age groups have the shortest median wait time of 14 weeks. Statistical tests identified a significant difference between age groups, whilst a further pair-wise test found that the most significant difference was between the 18 to 44 years old age group and the 0 to 17 year old age group.
Patients from the from each deprivation quintile have a similar median wait time of 14 weeks. Further statistical testing did not identify any significant variation by deprivation group.
Patients of Asian or of Black ethnicity have longer median wait times of 16 weeks compared to other known ethnic groups who have a median wait time of 14 and 15 weeks. Statistical tests identified a significant difference between known ethnic groups, whilst a further pair-wise test found that the most significant difference was between the White group and the Asian group.
1.2 Patient waiting more than 18/52/65 weeks
The above charts show that:
There is a significantly higher proportion of female patients waiting more than 52 weeks. There is no significant variation between men and women who are waiting 18 week or more, or 65 weeks or more.
There is a significantly higher proportion of patients aged 18 to 44 who wait more than 18 weeks, wait more than 52 weeks or wait more than 65 weeks.
There is not much significant variation by known deprivation group for patients waiting more than 18 weeks or waiting more than 52 weeks. For those waiting 65 weeks or more, however, the there is a significantly higher proportion of patients from the most deprived group.
There is a significantly higher proportion of Asian patients who are waiting more than 18 weeks, and a significantly higher proportion of Asian patients waiting more than 65 weeks.
1.3 Elective admissions
Local SUS inpatient has been analysed for the 2024-25 financial year on elective admissions for the registered and resident population within Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
The above charts show that:
- Elective admission rates are returning to pre-pandemic levels
- Women have a significantly higher rate of elective admissions compared to the overall rate, and the men have a lower rate
- Elective admissions tend to increase with age
- Persons from the most deprived and second most deprived groups have a significantly higher rate compared to the overall rate, whilst the rate is significantly lower for the least deprived groups
- Elective admissions are significantly higher for patients of White ethnicity
1.4 Emergency admissions
Local SUS inpatient has been analysed for the 2024-25 financial year on emergency admissions for the registered and resident population within Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
The above charts show that:
- Although emergency admission rates had been returning to pre-pandemic levels, there has been a decrease in the rate during 2024/25
- There is no significant variation in emergency admissions rates by stated gender
- Emergency admissions tend to increase with age, with a notable exception for infants aged 0 to 4 years old
- The emergency admission rate is significantly higher for persons from the two most deprived groups compared to the overall rate, and significantly lower for the least deprived groups
- Emergency admissions are significantly higher for patients of White ethnicity
1.5 A&E attendances
Accident and emergency (A&E) attendance data, derived from ECDS, has been analysed for the 2024-25 financial year for the registered and resident population within Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
The above charts show that:
- A&E attendance rates have been steadily increasing since the pandemic
- The rate of A&E attendances is significantly higher for women compared to the overall rate, and is lower for men
- A&E attendances tend to increase with age, with a notable exception for infants aged 0 to 4 years old
- The A&E attendance rate is significantly higher for residents from the two most deprived groups compared to the overall rate, and is significantly lower for those from the least deprived groups
- A&E attendances are significantly higher for patients of Mixed ethnicity and for patients of White ethnicity
Note that data presented here reflect the reporting guidelines of the source at the time, and that there were some changes in the underlying data that first became apparent in April 2022
1.6 Outpatient appointments
Outpatient appointment data, derived from SUS, has been analysed for the 2024-25 financial year for the registered and resident population within Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
The above charts show that:
- The rate of outpatient appointments has been steadily increasing since 2020/21 and are now nearing pre-pandemic levels
- The outpatient appointment rate is significantly higher for women compared to the overall rate, and significantly lower for men
- The rate of outpatient appointments tend to increase with age
- Outpatient appointment rates are significantly higher for persons from the two most deprived groups compared to the overall rate, and significantly lower for the least deprived groups
- The rate of outpatient appointments are significantly higher for patients of Mixed ethnicity and for patients of White ethnicity
1.7 Outpatient appointments attendance
Outpatient data has also been broken down by attendance status for those that attended or for those that did not attend (DNA):
The above charts show that:
- Outpatient attendance rates have seen a gradual improvement and, subsequently, DNA rates have seen a slight decrease
- There is no significant variation for outpatient attendance between men and women, although men have a higher DNA rate
- Patients from the least deprived groups have significantly higher attendance rates and - subsequently - patients from the two most deprived groups have significantly higher DNA rates
- Patients from known ethnic minority groups have significantly higher DNA rates than white patients
1.8 Virtual outpatient appointments
Virtual outpatient appointment data, derived from SUS, has been analysed for the 2024-25 financial year for the registered and resident population within Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
