Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0Life expectancy in Startforth is 79.5 for men and 83.0 for women
For 2019 to 2023, England’s figures are 79.1 and 83.0. Startforth grades B− for health: life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, early deaths, hospital admissions, child obesity and Census health, each adjusted for age.
Startforth grades B− for health
Healthier than 47% of UK towns, on age-adjusted measures.
What holds the grade back: disability and women’s life expectancy (better than 34% and 36% of UK towns). What lifts it: Census bad health (75%) and preventable deaths (55%). Among the 1,215 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Startforth’s Health Grade is the 884th highest.
Each measure is ranked against every UK town of 1,000 or more, the ranks are averaged, and the average is ranked again. Every measure allows for the town’s ages: life expectancy is worked out from the death rate at each age, so it doesn’t depend on how old the town’s residents are; deaths and admissions are counted against what England’s rates would give a town with these ages, and the Census answers against England and Wales’s rates by single year of age, so a seaside town of retired people isn’t marked down for being old.
Care in and near Startforth
The nearest A&E, GP practices, and where to go when it’s urgent but not an emergency. In an emergency, call 999.
County Durham and Darlington saw 58% of major-A&E patients within four hours
Type 1 (major) A&E attendances seen, admitted or discharged within four hours of arrival, by month. NHS England publishes it by trust, not hospital: County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust runs the A&E at Darlington Memorial Hospital, the nearest to Startforth (15 mi).
The share seen within four hours slipped from an average of 62% in April 2025 to September 2025 to 58% in the latest six months; England’s was 62%. Long waits for a bed are rarer than at 90% of trusts: 349 patients in 12 months, 0.7% of emergency admissions through A&E. CQC’s latest ratings for Darlington Memorial Hospital: urgent and emergency services good (2025), the hospital overall good (2026).
North East and Yorkshire trusts
Hospitals within 25 miles
| Distance | Hospital | CQC overall | Urgent & emergency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 mi | Darlington Memorial Hospital A&E Darlington · County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust | Good2026 | Good2025 |
| 22 mi | University Hospital North Durham A&E Durham · County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust | Good2026 | Good2025 |
| 23 mi | Shotley Bridge Community Hospital Durham · County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 24 mi | University Hospital of North Tees A&E Stockton On Tees · North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2022 | Good2018 |
| 24 mi | Friarage Hospital Northallerton · South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Good2024 | — |
NHS acute hospitals registered with the Care Quality Commission (care directory, 01 October 2026). “A&E” marks a major (type 1) emergency department, open 24 hours and led by consultants, in NHS England’s Emergency Care Data Set; a hospital without the mark may still have a minor injury unit or urgent treatment centre. Ratings run Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement, Inadequate; the year is when each was published. Distances are straight lines from the town centre.
No GP practice in Startforth itself
The nearest practices.
| Practice | Distance | CQC rating |
|---|---|---|
| Barnard Castle Surgery Barnard Castle DL12 8HT | 0.8 mi | Good2016 |
| Pinfold Medical Practice Bishop Auckland DL13 5NX | 7.1 mi | Good2016 |
| Woodview Medical Practice Bishop Auckland DL13 5AF | 7.2 mi | Good2017 |
| Gainford Surgery Darlington DL2 3BE | 8.1 mi | Good2018 |
| Old Forge Surgery Barnard Castle DL12 0QE | 8.1 mi | Good2017 |
| Evenwood Medical Practice Bishop Auckland DL14 9SU | 8.9 mi | Good2017 |
GP practices registered with the Care Quality Commission, placed in the town by their postcode. A practice counts as in Startforth when its surgery is inside the built-up area; branch surgeries are part of their main practice. You can register with any practice whose area covers your address.
77% of adults in the North East and North Cumbria area who tried got an NHS dental appointment
Adults who tried to get an NHS dental appointment for themselves in the last two years, and got one. GP Patient Survey 2026, by integrated care system (the NHS area that plans dentistry for Startforth).
Across England 82% of those who tried got an appointment. Of North East and North Cumbria patients who did, 71% rated the experience good (England 74%). NHS practices taking new patients are listed on the NHS website’s Find a dentist; for urgent dental pain, call NHS 111.
The survey asks GP patients about dentistry, so results are published for health areas, not towns or practices.
More people in Startforth call their health good than across County Durham
Census 2021, all residents, as answered (not adjusted for age).
Adjusted for age, 66 report bad health for every 100 expected, fewer than the national rate.
Show as a table
| Census 2021 | Startforth | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 77% | 82% |
| Fair health | 12% | 15% | 13% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.6% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled under the Equality Act | 20% | 22% | 17% |
| Day-to-day activities limited a lot | 6.9% | 10% | 7.4% |
County Durham and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
Startforth’s Health Grade is 884th of 1,215 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000
Ordered by Health Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Startforth, and others in County Durham. Life expectancy for men / women; deaths under 75 per 100 expected.
| # | Town | People | Life expectancy | Deaths under 75 | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Keswick West Yorkshire | 1,145 | 86.0 / 88.4 | 45 | A+ |
| 2 | Bardsey West Yorkshire | 1,819 | 86.0 / 88.4 | 45 | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Basildon Berkshire | 1,074 | 86.0 / 87.7 | 51 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 399 | Heighington County Durham | 1,548 | 82.3 / 86.0 | 73 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 673 | Stillington County Durham | 1,407 | 81.6 / 86.4 | 74 | B |
| … | |||||
| 789 | Bishop Middleham County Durham | 1,136 | 80.5 / 85.1 | 81 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 882 | Low Bradley North Yorkshire | 1,203 | 79.9 / 82.9 | 82 | B− |
| 883 | Moston Cheshire | 1,099 | 79.8 / 83.0 | 80 | B− |
| 884 | Startforth County Durham | 1,391 | 79.5 / 83.0 | 85 | B− |
| 885 | Appleby Magna Leicestershire | 1,301 | 79.1 / 84.3 | 97 | B− |
| 886 | Upchurch Kent | 1,727 | 79.3 / 84.1 | 86 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 1215 | Toll Bar South Yorkshire | 1,213 | 73.1 / 77.6 | 179 | D− |
Health letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only. Welsh towns are graded on life expectancy, healthy life expectancy and the two Census measures: OHID’s early-death, admissions and child-obesity figures cover England.
Health in the places around Startforth
Life expectancy for men / women, and the nearest A&E. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | People | Life expectancy | Nearest A&E | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Startforth | 1,391 | 79.5 / 83.0 | 15 mi | B− |
| Barnard Castle | 5,783 | 79.5 / 83.0 | 14 mi | C+ |
| Staindrop | 1,339 | 78.1 / 85.5 | 10 mi | C+ |
| Cockfield | 1,351 | 78.1 / 85.5 | 11 mi | C |
| Gainford | 1,127 | 78.1 / 85.5 | 7 mi | C+ |
| Evenwood | 1,587 | 78.1 / 85.5 | 10 mi | C |
| West Auckland | 3,107 | 79.1 / 81.2 | 9.4 mi | D |
| Toft Hill and High Etherley | 1,865 | 78.1 / 85.5 | 11 mi | C |
Staindrop, 5.8 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 78.1, 1.4 years shorter than Startforth’s.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- A&E figures are for the trust. NHS England publishes four-hour waits by trust, not hospital, so County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust’s figures cover every major A&E it runs. They count type 1 (major) departments; minor injury units and urgent treatment centres are left out, which is why they sit below the all-types figure NHS England headlines (75% for England).
- Adjusted for age. A ratio of 100 means as many deaths, admissions or reports of bad health as England’s rates (England and Wales’s for the Census) would give a town with these ages; 120 means a fifth more.
- Small areas, summed to the town. OHID publishes these figures for middle-layer areas of about 8,000 people; the town’s figure averages the areas it covers, weighted by how many of their residents live in it, so a village shares its area’s figure with the countryside around it.
- Different years. Life expectancy and deaths cover 2019 to 2023; emergency admissions 2016/17 to 2020/21 (the latest OHID publishes for small areas, including the pandemic dip); child obesity the three school years to 2024/25; A&E the 12 months to September 2026; the GP Patient Survey early 2026; CQC ratings were published on different dates, shown in each row.
- Distances are straight lines. Miles are measured from the town’s centre to each site; the road is longer. For an emergency, call 999; for urgent advice, call NHS 111.
Questions about health in Startforth
How healthy is Startforth?
Startforth earns a B− for health, healthier than 47% of UK towns on measures adjusted for age, and 884th of 1,215 UK towns of its size. Life expectancy is 79.5 for men and 83.0 for women (England 79.1 and 83.0), and there are 85 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected.
How long are A&E waits at Darlington Memorial Hospital?
NHS England publishes waits for the trust, County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust. In the 12 months to September 2026 it saw 58% of major-A&E patients within four hours, against 61% across England; in September 2026 the figure was 59%. In an emergency call 999; for urgent advice call NHS 111.
Can I get an NHS dentist in Startforth?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 77% of adults in the North East and North Cumbria area who tried to get an NHS dental appointment in the last two years got one, against 82% across England. Practices taking new NHS patients are listed on the NHS website’s Find a dentist service.
How many GP practices are there in Startforth?
There’s no GP surgery inside Startforth itself; the nearest is about 0.8 mi away.
What is the life expectancy in Startforth?
79.5 years for men and 83.0 for women, on OHID’s figures for 2019 to 2023. Men can expect 66.6 of those years and women 68.2 in good health.
CQC ratings © Care Quality Commission.
Sources: OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (life expectancy and deaths 2019–23, emergency admissions 2016/17–2020/21, NCMP 2022/23–2024/25); House of Commons Library MSOA names · ONS health state life expectancy for small areas (MSOAs), England and Wales, 2019 to 2023 (healthy life expectancy) · ONS Census 2021 general health and disability, adjusted for age · Care Quality Commission care directory and latest ratings, 01 October 2026 · NHS Organisation Data Service · GP Patient Survey 2026 (NHS England, run by Ipsos) · NHS England, A&E Attendances and Emergency Admissions (monthly, by trust) and Emergency Care Data Set activity by site, June–September 2026 (type 1 A&Es) · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025 · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.