In 2021 Professor Chris Bentley, Independent Health Inequalities Advisor to NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSEI) and John Brittain, Principal Operational Researcher (NHSEI) conducted a review into Covid-19 and health inequalities. As part of the review they explored the communities in Lancashire and South Cumbria (LSC) with the greatest socio economic disadvantage. One of the findings of this work was the identification of a number of electoral wards with high levels of deprivation and with higher-than-expected rates of urgent and emergency admissions – these wards are referred to as “priority wards”.
