An estimated 25.2% of adult GP patients living in the Birkenhead constituency were recorded as having depression – roughly one in four adults – according to new data from House of Commons Library and NHS Digital.
Wirral constituencies made up two of the top five for highest recorded prevalence of diagnosed depression, with Birkenhead in first place and Wallasey in third.
The data was gathered from NHS GP practices and mapped to neighbourhood, constituency and regional level by the House of Commons Library.
Birkenhead’s depression rate places it above the North West average of 17.9% and considerably higher than the England-wide estimate of 14.3%.
Neighbourhood ranking turned up even more worrying results for Wirral, with an astonishing seven out of the top 10 neighbourhoods in England falling within the local authority.
Four of the top five were Wirral neighbourhoods, including Birkenhead Central, Bidston Hill, Poulton and Tranmere.
This comes as Birkenhead progresses to the final shortlist for the inaugural Town of Culture 2028, beating out more than 400 other towns in the North West.
Led by the team from Future Yard and the Birkenhead Culture Partnership, the bid hopes to restore Birkenhead’s glory as a major UK town with a £3 million government grant to host a major season of culture in 2028.
But the figures reveal the difficulty of reaping economic gains despite a rich cultural heritage. Birkenhead is ranked the most deprived fifth of English constituencies according to the English Indices of Multiple Deprivation.
The 2019 study – which draws together data from income, employment, education and skills, health and disability, crime, barriers to housing and services and living environment – found that an estimated 60% of residents in the constituency live in neighbourhoods classed as highly deprived.