The Department of Health has just published its annual ‘community health profile’ for all the country’s local authorities. Blackpool’s makes somewhat chilling reading – we come into the ‘significantly worse than the English average” for 20 of the 26 cited indicators! Not very ‘healthy’ … … …

Surprisingly, one of the few areas we perform well in is homelessness – our rate is well below the national average. Other figures are not quite so encouraging – the violent crime rate is double the national average, levels of mental health and alcohol abuse are double the national average, whilst levels of drug abuse are 2.5 times the national average.

A recent report on Blackpool Council by the Audit Commission reinforced the problem:

“Health deprivation and disability is a serious concern. Over 40 per cent of the borough’s neighbourhoods are in the bottom 10 per cent nationally for health deprivation, and a higher than average proportion of residents describe their health as ‘not good’. Blackpool has the second lowest life expectancy for men, the highest incidence of alcohol related deaths, the highest suicide rates in the country (at twice the national average) and the third highest rate of teenage pregnancy. 42.9 per cent of households have a least one person with a long-term
limiting illness”.

You might say “What does it matter?” but our life expectancy in Blackpool is three years shorter than the national average.

The challenges for Blackpool’s hard-pressed hospitals, doctors and nurses is immense, before we even add in the burden of those visitors to our town who injure themselves through over-indulgence or fights.