Our population

The are nearly 1.8 million people living in Lancashire and South Cumbria. We understand from data and conversations with local people that our residents 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.

Understanding the demographics is vital to providing the best quality health and care services for the region and maintaining a strong relationship with the population that we serve.

Our challenges

Deprivation

Nearly a third of our residents live in some of the most deprived areas across England. The percentage of people living in fuel poverty and unable to afford to heat their homes, is higher than the national average: 13% for Lancashire and South Cumbria, the national average is 10.6%. A significant proportion of children experience adverse living conditions including child poverty leading to significant variation in their development and school readiness. The percentage of children living in poverty ranges from a low of 12% to as high as 38% in Lancashire and South Cumbria, the national average is 30%.

Life expectancy in Lancashire and South Cumbria is lower than the national average

There is a significant level of unwarranted variation in the number of years people can expect to live a healthy life across Lancashire and South Cumbria. Healthy life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy is predicted to be less than the expected state pension age of 68 years for children born today. In some neighbourhoods, healthy life expectancy is 46.5 years.

Health and wellbeing

Only around a fifth of adults are meeting the recommended levels of physical activity. Much more needs to be done to encourage children to be active: just 15% of young people aged 15 in Lancashire are meeting the recommended levels of physical activity, 14.1% in Blackpool and 12.4% in Blackburn with Darwen.

18.5% of adults smoke in Lancashire and South Cumbria, the national average for England is 17.2%.

21,442 people have five or more long term health conditions in Lancashire and South Cumbria. The main causes of ill-health are cancer, cardiovascular, respiratory, mental health, and neurological conditions. Suicide rates are significantly higher than average in Lancashire and South Cumbria, particularly in Barrow in Furness, Blackpool, Chorley and Wyre. The estimated prevalence of common mental health disorders is higher than the England estimate.

Approximately 40% of ill-health in Lancashire and South Cumbria is due to smoking, physical inactivity, obesity and substance misuse.