Ill health

Reviewed: 19/2/2026

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This section concentrates on the health conditions people experience. Being free from illness is part of being healthy but there are other aspects as well which are explored in other parts of this website. The World Health Organization defines health as:

a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

Rates of ill-health are commonly reported as rates per 100,000 population or prevalences.

  • Prevalance refers to the total number of individuals in a population who have a disease or health condition at a specific period of time, usually expressed as a percentage of the population.
  • Incidence refers to the number of individuals who develop a specific disease or experience a specific health-related event during a particular time period (such as a month or year).

Disease rates (for example) are often standardised. This means adjusting for the fact that different areas have different age profiles, which affects the likelihood of people being diagnosed with health conditions.

The Bolton picture

  • Health Action Resource Platform (HARP) - from the NHS Race and Health Observatory. This tool allows users to explore NHS performance data broken down by ethnicity across regions, systems, or providers. It aims to illustrate racial inequalities in health through data visualisation in an attempt to drive action in both policy and practice.
  • Health literacy/ numeracy - having the skills to be the able to use information and services to make informed health decisions
  • Global burden of disease - from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation. Visualisation showing cause of deaths/ years lived with disability/ disability adjusted life years for Bolton and other geographies, also giving age and gender breakdowns and change over time.
  • CVD PREVENT - The Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Audit (CVDPREVENT) is a national primary care audit that automatically extracts routinely held GP data. This tool provides open access to the data, with clear, actionable insights for those tasked with improving cardiovascular health in England.
  • NHS Hospital Trust catchments - which hospital people attend for treatment depending on where they live, and how people who attend a certain hospital compare with people who live within its catchment.
  • Local authority health profile - from OHID
  • Health protection dashboard - from OHID

Further useful links

Oral health

Tooth decay is the most common oral disease affecting children and young people in England, yet it is largely preventable. Tooth decay can cause problems with eating, sleeping, communication and socialising, and results in at least 60,000 days being missed from school during the year for hospital extractions alone. Tooth decay could be prevented by cutting down on sugar, as well as brushing teeth with fluoride toothpaste.

Poor oral health can lead to pain and discomfort, sleepless nights, loss of function and self-esteem, and in turn disrupt family life. It can also lead to time off work. Experiencing tooth decay or having missing teeth or ill-fitting dentures can lead to an individual becoming socially isolated. Tooth decay - once filled - will need ongoing maintenance throughout life. Therefore, preventing teeth from becoming decayed through regular toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste and minimising the amount and frequency of consumption of sugar-containing foods and drinks is key.

The Bolton picture

Further useful information

Health services

There are a range of healthcare services across Bolton whcih provide treatment and prevention.

The Bolton picture

Further useful links