Speeches

Lord Rooker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Rooker on 2016-02-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 22 July 2014 (HL939), what was the ranking of the UK in the Health at a Glance 2015: OECD Indicators report for (1) infant mortality, (2) numbers of MRI and CT Scanners, (3) low birth weight infants, (4) overweight and obesity amongst adults, (5) overweight and obesity amongst children, (6) mortality from cardiovascular disease, and (7) mortality from cancer; how these rankings compared to those for 2013; and what plans they have to improve the UK rankings.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The United Kingdom’s rankings among OECD member states (as shown by the 2015 and 2013 Health at a Glance reports) are the following:

Health at a Glance 2013

Health at a Glance 2015

Infant mortality

25th lowest out of 34

19th lowest out of 34

Low birth weight infants

21st lowest out of 34

21st lowest out of 34

MRI units

7th lowest out of 28

4th lowest out of 32

CT scanners

3rd lowest out of 29

3rd lowest out of 32

Obesity among adults

28th lowest out of 34

27th lowest out of 34

Overweight and obesity among children (measured)

18th lowest out of 34

32th lowest out of 33

Mortality from cardiovascular disease (ischemic heart disease)

19th lowest out of 33

18th lowest out of 34

Mortality from cardiovascular disease (cerebrovascular disease)

22nd lowest out of 33

14th lowest out of 34

Mortality from cancer

25th lowest out of 33

26th lowest out of 34

The Government welcomes the OECD reports as an authoritative contribution to the development of health policy in the UK. For the health service in England, we have taken note of the OECD’s findings. The underlying data on health outcomes informs the development of our mandates and other guidance to the health and care system, in particular to NHS England and Public Health England.