Coventry
Coventry is a diverse and cohesive city, home to over 345,325 residents, an increase of 28,000 since 2011, making it the second largest Local Authority in the West Midlands (WM) region. It is the fourth most densely populated of the region, only Birmingham, Sandwell and Wolverhampton are more densely populated. It has a relatively young population, with a median age of 35 years compared to the UK average of 40 years.
Coventry’s population is growing, changing and increasingly diverse. The city has experienced a high rate of population growth in recent years, particularly amongst 18-29 year olds. However, the growth of over-65s in Coventry is expected to accelerate and outpace other groups within 10-15 years. As the city grows, it is also becoming increasingly diverse.
The city’s growth has not been evenly distributed. Nearly 19% of Coventry neighbourhoods are amongst the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. In 2019, Coventry ranked 64th nationally (with 1st being most deprived), an improvement in ranking of 46th in 2015. The percentage of children under the age of 16 who live in absolute poverty is greater when compared to the rest of England.
Overall health in the city is below average, life expectancy has remained below the regional and national averages. There are significant health inequalities across Coventry’s neighborhoods and effect certain communities disproportionately. People living in more deprived parts of the city not only live shorter lives, but also spend a greater proportion of their shorter lives in poor health than those living in less deprived parts of the city.
Comparing Coventry’s health outcomes to other areas, premature mortality (deaths amongst residents aged under 75 years) is higher than average, particularly for cardiovascular diseases amongst males. Males and females in Coventry tend to be affected by different causes of premature death. The differences are most significant in causes of death that are considered preventable, where the deaths could potentially be prevented by public health interventions.
Improving lives for the People of Coventry
The core purpose of collaboration across health and care is to improve life experience and outcomes for people living in Coventry; people like Steve who wants to improve his mental wellbeing and personal resilience; Dil who is a carer for her partner; and Doreen who is an older person living with comorbidities and supported to live at home with the help of her daughters.
Addressing health care inequalities is one of the specific targets for localised health and care commissioning, which will be managed through a new vehicle, called the Coventry Care Collaborative, read more about the Care Collaborative here.
The organisations responsible for primary, acute, community and social care have joined together with the voluntary sector to develop a city-wide collaborative that will take on the commissioning and delivery functions delegated by the ICS.
It will develop a local vision and strategy for Coventry place, based on Population Health Management principles. This will include the delivery of priority transformation programmes including Improving Lives for Older People, delivery of the Coventry Community Diagnostic Centre, Mental Health Transformation and the Coventry MSK programme.
The Collaborative will work towards developing a culture of stakeholder engagement and involvement including VCSE partners. It will also identify overlap and approach to working across collaboratives.
Underpinning our transformation is a population health management (PHM) approach, which uses health and care data to provide insight that supports the understanding of the need and challenges facing people in Coventry. Read more about our PHM work here.
Other areas of work that have been delivered as part of the Care Collaborative development are:
- MSK PHM pilot – Coventry Central Primary Care Network and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) piloted a novel approach to tackling health inequalities for people with persistent back pain of working age, with multiple health co-morbidities and on medication who were living in medium to high deprivation. The primary aim of the project was to narrow health inequalities and improve the health and well-being outcomes for people with persistent low back pain living in the 20% most deprived areas of Coventry. Click here to find out more.
- Diabetes (link to Sowe Valley PHM Wave 3 case study)
Further areas of the Coventry Care Collaborative work programme that are under development are: - Coventry Diagnostic Centre - a new health facility in Coventry city centre that will improve population health by diagnosing health conditions earlier, faster and more accurately. Located on the City of Coventry health campus, patients will access planned diagnostic care nearer to home without the need to attend acute hospital sites. There are high rates of premature mortality in Coventry from cardiovascular disease, cancer and respiratory disease and the new facility will provide a wide range of diagnostic imaging technology, heart and lung tests. The new CDC will open in late 2024.
The Coventry Care Collaborative, chaired by Pete Fahy, Director of Adult Social Care and Housing at Coventry City Council is a partnership of providers and commissioners of health and care, with the goal of greater integration that deliver benefits for both our population and staff working in our system.
Member organisations are University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry City Council, Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Partnership Trust, Voluntary Action Coventry, HealthWatch Coventry, Primary Care Collaborative and the Coventry and Rugby GP Alliance and the NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (ICB).
Executive Board is chaired by Pete Fahy, Director of Adult Social Care and Housing, Coventry City Council.
Coventry Care Collaborative meetings
- 9 August 2023
- 13 September 2023
- 11 October 2023
- 8 November 2023
- 13 December 2023