West Lancashire is made up of the 1960s new town of Skelmersdale, the market town of Ormskirk and the rurality of the Northern Parishes.

West Lancashire is made up of the 1960s new town of Skelmersdale, the market town of Ormskirk and the rurality of the Northern Parishes. We understand from data and conversations with local people that these three areas of West Lancashire have very different needs, opportunities, assets, views and experiences. Similarly, our data tells us they have different day to day lives, different factors contributing to their health and wellbeing and even different life expectancies.

Highlights

• We have significant gaps in life expectancy (LE). On average LE for men is 79.5 years and for women 82.4 years. The difference in LE between the most and least deprived areas in West Lancashire is 7.2 years for men and 7.1 years for women.

• More than 1 in 10 children in West Lancashire live in absolute poverty. In some wards in Skelmersdale nearly 50% of children live in poverty.

• 1.36% of children provide unpaid care, 3.05% of our population are unpaid carers.

• Emergency hospital admissions for COPD are significantly above the England average for all seven wards of Skelmersdale.

• A&E attendances for children under five is the worst in Lancashire and South Cumbria. Many of these attendances are due to respiratory issues.

• Small geography inequalities.

• Hidden inequalities – social isolation, migrant and seasonal workers.

We would like to understand some of that further and develop a way of working that delivers the right solution for the right people in the right place.  ​​​​​​