Wirral’s wealthiest live 11 years longer

Sep 22 2010 by Liam Murphy, Heswall News

WIRRAL’S wealthiest men live more than 11 years longer than those from the poorest parts of the borough according to a report by the local health authority.

Figures show Wirral has some of the widest gaps between areas in the same borough in England – and is falling further behind the rest of the country in overall life expectancy.

In her final report before retiring, Wirral’s Joint Director of Public Health, Marie Armitage, said men in Wirral’s most deprived areas live, on average, 11.6 years less than those in the most affluent – just six miles away – and women can expect to live 9.6 years less.

She said the life expectancy gaps affected much of Merseyside, but Wirral with its extremes between very affluent and very deprived areas show “very stark differences”.

The director said the PCT is working on tackling this through dealing with smoking, obesity and alcohol which cause many of the problems.

Her report is based on the regularly updated Joint Strategic Needs Assessment which compiles medical data from across the borough.

It shows that male life expectancy ranged from 68.3 years in Birkenhead to 79.9 years in Heswall, and female life expectancy ranged from 75.3 years in Birkenhead to 84.9 years in Bebington.

Wirral’s council leader Jeff Green slammed the differences between wealthy and deprived wards as “gross inequalities” and said: “After 13 years of a Labour Government the levels of health inequality are unacceptable. It remains a key priority for me and the council to address these.”

A report to be presented to Wirral Council’s cabinet this week also says Wirral is not on track to meet its life expectancy target.

It added: “Whilst life expectancy is increasing in Wirral, it is not improving at the same rate as England as a whole.

“The latest data (2006-08) shows a gap in life expectancy of two years for males and one year for females between Wirral and England.

“The gap has actually increased in both males and females since 1995-97 when it was 1.46 years for men and 0.72 years for females.

“The difference in life expectancy between males and females within wards is also quite considerable; the biggest gaps between males and females are in Bidston ward with a difference of 9.4 years, followed by Leasowe with a gap of 8.6 years, Bebington 7.7 years and Birkenhead 7.0 years.

“The gap between males and females for all Wirral wards averages out at 5.1 years (2006-08).”

Both men and women living in areas of Sefton that are in the most deprived fifth nationally have a life expectancy that is around five years lower than the rest of the borough – and over eight years less than those living in areas that are the least deprived.

In Liverpool for men the lowest life expectancy is 69.5 years in Riverside ward compared with 80.4 years in Mossley Hill, a gap of 10.9 years, while for women it ranges from 74.6 years for Greenbank ward compared with 84.1 years in Childwall – a 9.5 year difference.

In Knowsley, according to the 2009 Area Partnership Board Health Profile, South Huyton has the highest life expectancy for both men (75.7 years) and women (81.4 years), while South Kirkby has the lowest life expectancy in the borough for both men (73.8 years) and women (77.5 years).