1.1. Introduction

Across the West Midlands region there are 30 Primary Care Trusts (PCT) and 3 Strategic Health Authorities (SHA). The membership of these areas is described in Figure 1.1 and Table 1.1. To relate the health geography to that of local government Figure 1.2 and Table 1.2 describe the location of local authorities in the SHA framework.

	Figure 1.1 Primary care trust and strategic health authority boundaries, as at 1st April 2002
	Figure 1.2 Local Authorities of the West Midlands, as at 1st April 2002

This year’s Key Health Data features census information on Output Area geographies as well as ward level.

Output Areas (OA)

Output Areas comprise of around 125 households and consist of populations, which show homogeneity. They 'nest' within wards and parishes, and normally comprise of whole unit postcodes. To obtain more information on Output Areas visit http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/op12.asp

The data used in this year's Key Health Data is mapped to 1998 ward boundaries. 2001 ward boundaries were released mid 2003 and therefore did not fit the time plan for this edition. We aim to present health data using the 2001 ward boundaries in the next edition of Key Health data.

Output Area sourced : National Statistics website www.statistics.gov.uk crown copyright is reproduced with permission from the controller of the HMSO.

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