Middle-aged people in Wirral are less healthy than they were 25 years ago and alcohol abuse is seen as a key cause.

That’s according to a Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) report.

The report stated liver disease was a key cause of declining health in the borough and this is strongly related to alcohol and obesity.

The report continued: “Alcohol remains a large and increasing cause of disease, with alcohol-specific hospital admissions rates [in Wirral] remaining more than twice as high as England rates.”

The report was presented by Nesta Hawker, director of commissioning for Wirral CCG, at a Wirral Council committee meeting.

Ms Hawker said there will be a significant focus on alcohol going forward, because: “That’s the greatest burden for us going forward [particularly] in the younger population and young on Wirral is anyone under 50.

“For that population we need to, as a whole system, look at what we can do about addressing alcohol misuse.”

Ms Hawker said Wirral CCG was also focusing on falls as part of its older people strategy.

“We do have a higher rate of falls. That’s not good for people and we don’t want people to end up in hospital.

“But because of our integration we can work really closely together, helping care homes and helping people in their own homes and supporting them so that the risk of falls is reduced drastically.”

This comes as the rate of emergency hospital admissions in Wirral due to falls remained “substantially higher” than the national average.

The report does not shy away from the problem and admits: “Delivering high-quality care for frail older people, many of whom have multiple complex needs, is a huge challenge for health and social care services.”

Any progress will be revealed at the next meeting of the Joint Strategic Commissioning Board on March 10, but solving these cultural and social problems is likely to take much longer than that.