Population and people who use our services

Population

About 355,000 people live in Wakefield District. This is forecast to grow in line with the rest of England by around 2.8% over the next five years. Population growth will be highest in those aged 65 years and over, where the increase will be by around 14.4%. Wakefield has a relatively small ethnic minority population. The 2001 Census recorded that 96.7% of people identified themselves as White British, 1.4% of people described their ethnicity as Asian or Asian British and 1.1% described their ethnicity as White Irish or White Other.

About 185,000 people live in North Kirklees and this is forecast to grow by 3.8% over the next five years, with those aged 65 and over expected to increase by around 14.3%. Older people are those most likely to need to use health services and need healthcare. The areas covered by North Kirklees are Mirfield, Spen, Batley, Birstall, Birkenshaw and Dewsbury. The Asian population is increasing, especially in Batley and Dewsbury where 38% of those aged under 18 are now south Asian. There are a higher proportion of babies being born to south Asian mothers, now up to 2 in 5 births and 38% of all those aged under 18 in North Kirklees. 85% of these are living in Dewsbury and Batley.

Further information about the populations of Wakefield and North Kirklees and the related health needs are available in the respective Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNA) reports for the two areas available on the websites of the relevant local authority:

• Wakefield Council
• Kirklees Council

People who use our services

Every day on average during 2012/13:

• More than 600 people attended our emergency departments
• Some 218 patients were admitted as an emergency
• We carried out more than 260 planned procedures, such as operations
• We saw around 1,850 people in our outpatient departments
• Around 19 babies were delivered in our maternity units
• We provided community services to more than 308 patients
• Our District Nurses made more than 1,060 patient visits
• Our Health Visitors saw more than 17 new babies

A report which provides the demographic information we have for people who use our services, in line with the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010  is available here : People who use our services.

Using population and patient information to inform decision making

The Trust is continuing to engage with communities as part of a planning process which proposes a major change to the way we deliver hospital and community services across North Kirklees and the Wakefield District. Information about this programme can be found on the ‘Meeting the Challenge’ (MTC) website at:  www.meetingthechallenge.co.uk.

In developing the Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) which supports this programme information about health related issues for the types of communities in Mid Yorkshire was obtained from national research and audits available via the internet. Specific information about the health needs of the populations in Wakefield and North Kirklees was obtained from the respective Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNA) reports for the two areas available on the relevant local authority websites as above. The IIA is available on the MTC website at: www.meetingthechallenge.co.uk/documents/making-the-case-for-change-evidence/.