Standing view · health · Dartford
deteriorating, held with established confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2025.
Health measures in Dartford have been worsening, and the early-death rate is the reason. Deaths before age 75, per 100,000 was 274.45 in 2023, recorded as favourable against the usual pattern for its year, then 325.22 in 2024 and unfavourable. Hospital admissions for COPD, aged 35 and over, per 100,000 stood at 417.43 in 2023/24. This is a thin evidence base: one measure reversing across two annual readings, with a single admissions figure alongside it. Health publishes once a year here, so the 2024 movement cannot be confirmed or reversed until the next release, which is why the view is established rather than strong.
A view is formed only where the evidence names a figure you can check. Each movement listed as a reason had to be large enough to matter and distinctive in at least one way — unusual against this area's own history, unusual against comparable areas, or sustained over several periods. A movement shared with peers counts for less, because it says something about the country rather than about Dartford. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths before age 75, per 100,000 | 2023 | improving |
| Deaths before age 75, per 100,000 | 2024 | deteriorating |
These figures carry no defensible direction of their own: a rising house price is good news to an owner and bad news to someone trying to buy, so we do not score one as an improvement. They are shown because they are part of the picture, and they did not decide the view above.
| Measure | Period | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital admissions for COPD, aged 35 and over, per 100,000 | 2023/24 | — |