Photo: habiloid · CC BY-SA 2.0Lives in Whitehaven run shorter than in 94% of UK towns: 75.9 for men and 78.5 for women
Across England the figures for 2019 to 2023 are 79.1 and 83.0. Whitehaven grades D for health: life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, early deaths, hospital admissions, child obesity and Census health, each adjusted for age; #21 of 23 in Cumbria.
What stands out about health in Whitehaven
A&E waits run longer than England’s
North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the A&E at West Cumberland Hospital, saw 54% of major-A&E patients within four hours in the 12 months to September 2026, against 61% across England: 84th of 117 trusts. 16% of patients admitted through its A&Es waited more than 12 hours from the decision to admit, against 13% in England. A&E ↓
Men live shorter lives than Whitehaven’s level of deprivation would suggest
23% of Whitehaven’s residents are income-deprived. Across England’s towns that predicts men’s life expectancy of 78.9; Whitehaven’s is 75.9. For its circumstances ↓
More of Whitehaven’s children are obese
26% of Year 6 children (aged 10 to 11) were measured as obese over the last three school years, against 22.3% across England; more than in 90% of UK towns. Health Grade ↓
Patients rate Whitehaven’s GP practices below England’s
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 72% of patients at Whitehaven’s 3 practices called their overall experience good, against 77% across England, and 38% found it easy to get through by phone (57% in England). That is behind 78% of English towns. GP practices ↓
Written from the OHID, NHS England and GP Patient Survey figures on this page. Life expectancy covers 2019 to 2023; neighbourhoods are ONS middle-layer areas of about 8,000 people.
Whitehaven grades D for health
Healthier than 8% of UK towns, on age-adjusted measures.
Behind the typical UK town on every measure. Even its strongest, disability and Census bad health, are in the bottom 25% of UK towns; women’s life expectancy and preventable deaths are furthest behind. Among the 303 UK towns of 16,000 to 31,000 people, Whitehaven’s Health Grade is the 258th 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.
North Cumbria Integrated Care saw 54% 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: North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust runs the A&E at West Cumberland Hospital, the nearest to Whitehaven (0.9 mi).
The share seen within four hours slipped from an average of 57% in April 2025 to September 2025 to 54% in the latest six months; England’s was 62%. Long waits for a bed are commoner than at 65% of trusts: 4,221 patients in 12 months, 16% of emergency admissions through A&E. CQC’s latest ratings for West Cumberland Hospital: urgent and emergency services requires improvement (2023), the hospital overall requires improvement (2023).
North East and Yorkshire trusts
Hospitals within 25 miles
| Distance | Hospital | CQC overall | Urgent & emergency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.9 mi | West Cumberland Hospital A&E Whitehaven · North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2023 | Requires improvement2023 |
| 0.9 mi | West Cumberland Hospital Whitehaven · The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 7.2 mi | Workington Community Hospital Workington · North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 12 mi | Victoria Cottage Hospital Maryport · North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 12 mi | Cockermouth Hospital Cockermouth · North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 18 mi | Mary Hewetson Cottage Hospital Keswick · North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
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.
Men’s life expectancy in Whitehaven is 2.9 years below what its level of deprivation predicts
Across 1,996 English towns of 2,500 or more, men’s life expectancy tracks income deprivation closely (correlation −0.81). Each dot is a town.
23% of Whitehaven’s residents are income-deprived, more than in most English towns. For that level, the line predicts 78.9 years for men; Whitehaven’s is 75.9. For women it predicts 82.8, and Whitehaven’s 78.5 is 4.3 years below.
Income deprivation: share of residents in low-income households, English Indices of Deprivation 2025, averaged over each town’s neighbourhoods. A town above or below the line isn’t necessarily doing better or worse on care: students, prisons and hostels inside a boundary all shift the figures.
72% of patients rate Whitehaven’s 3 GP practices good
GP Patient Survey 2026 (NHS England, run by Ipsos), about 100 patients a practice, against 77% across England. 194th of 252 English towns of 16,000 to 31,000, from the highest.
| Practice | Overall experience | Easy by phone | Wait about right | CQC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mansion House Surgery CA28 7BU · 6,289 adult patients | 88% good · range 79%–93% | 64% | 78% | Good2025 |
| Lowther Medical Centre CA28 7RG · 11,505 adult patients | 71% good · range 52%–84% | 40% | 75% | Good2026 |
| Fellview Healthcare CA28 7QE · 18,787 adult patients | 68% good · range 38%–88% | 29% | 58% | Good2025 |
Mansion House Surgery has the town’s highest rating (88%). You can register with any practice whose area covers your address.
GP Patient Survey 2026: surveys sent January to March 2026; results weighted by NHS England. The range is the 95% confidence interval. Adult patients: the survey’s practice population aged 16 and over. A practice counts as in Whitehaven when its main surgery is inside the built-up area; branch surgeries are part of their main practice. CQC ratings © Care Quality Commission.
Men’s life expectancy across Whitehaven runs from 74.0 to 78.4
Life expectancy at birth, 2019–23, in Whitehaven’s 3 middle-layer neighbourhoods (about 8,000 people each). Circles are sized by residents and show men’s life expectancy.
Mirehouse, Kells & Woodhouse has the most deaths under 75 for its ages (167 per 100 expected), against 113 in Hensingham, Hillcrest & Aikbank.
Show every measure as a table
| Neighbourhood | Men | Women | Deaths under 75 | Emergency admissions | Year 6 obese | Income-deprived |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hensingham, Hillcrest & Aikbank | 78.4 | 81.1 | 113 | 95 | 23% | 12% |
| Whitehaven Harbour & Corkickle | 74.7 | 77.3 | 156 | 114 | 20% | 25% |
| Mirehouse, Kells & Woodhouse | 74.0 | 76.5 | 167 | 126 | 32% | 34% |
Deaths and admissions per 100 expected for each area’s ages (England = 100). Each figure has a range: Mirehouse, Kells & Woodhouse’s men’s life expectancy is 74.0 with a 95% range of 72.2 to 75.7. Neighbourhoods are ONS middle-layer areas at least 30% inside Whitehaven; names are the House of Commons Library’s.
Care in and near Whitehaven
The nearest A&E, the practice patients rate highest, and where to go when it’s urgent but not an emergency. In an emergency, call 999.
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 Whitehaven).
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.
77% of residents say their health is good or very good
Census 2021, all residents, as answered (not adjusted for age).
Adjusted for age, 126 report bad health for every 100 expected, more than the national rate.
Show as a table
| Census 2021 | Whitehaven | Cumbria | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 79% | 82% |
| Fair health | 16% | 15% | 13% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.1% | 6.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled under the Equality Act | 22% | 20% | 17% |
| Day-to-day activities limited a lot | 10% | 8.7% | 7.4% |
Cumbria and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
Whitehaven’s Health Grade is 258th of 303 UK towns of 16,000 to 31,000
Ordered by Health Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Whitehaven, and others in Cumbria. Life expectancy for men / women; deaths under 75 per 100 expected.
| # | Town | People | Life expectancy | Deaths under 75 | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harpenden Hertfordshire | 30,964 | 83.0 / 86.8 | 58 | A+ |
| 2 | Hale Greater Manchester | 16,716 | 83.3 / 86.4 | 58 | A+ |
| 3 | Amersham Buckinghamshire | 17,377 | 83.1 / 86.5 | 60 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 81 | Kendal Cumbria | 28,939 | 79.2 / 83.6 | 93 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 98 | Penrith Cumbria | 16,705 | 78.8 / 83.7 | 100 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 256 | Cradley Heath West Midlands | 18,819 | 76.7 / 81.5 | 125 | D |
| 257 | Maltby South Yorkshire | 16,305 | 76.4 / 79.8 | 131 | D |
| 258 | Whitehaven Cumbria | 22,952 | 75.9 / 78.5 | 143 | D |
| 259 | Wath upon Dearne South Yorkshire | 16,962 | 76.6 / 80.0 | 128 | D |
| 260 | Antrim Antrim and Newtownabbey | 25,606 | 77.9 / 80.5 | — | D |
| … | |||||
| 275 | Workington Cumbria | 21,276 | 74.4 / 79.8 | 148 | D |
| … | |||||
| 303 | Bellshill North Lanarkshire | 19,488 | 73.1 / 77.9 | — | 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 Whitehaven
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitehaven | 22,952 | 75.9 / 78.5 | 0.9 mi | D |
| Moresby Parks | 1,180 | 77.6 / 80.2 | 2.1 mi | C− |
| Cleator Moor | 6,671 | 77.8 / 82.2 | 1.9 mi | C− |
| Frizington | 1,754 | 77.8 / 82.2 | 2.9 mi | D |
| St Bees | 1,187 | 81.0 / 86.8 | 3.1 mi | B+ |
| Distington | 1,375 | 77.0 / 79.6 | 4.6 mi | D |
| Egremont | 5,791 | 79.0 / 79.1 | 3.5 mi | D |
| High Harrington | 1,574 | 78.7 / 80.7 | 5.9 mi | C+ |
St Bees, 3.5 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 81.0, 5.1 years longer than Whitehaven’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 North Cumbria Integrated Care 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).
- The GP survey is a survey. About 100 patients answer for each practice, so a practice’s figure has a range (shown in the table); small differences between practices aren’t meaningful. The town figure weights each practice by its adult patients, some of whom live outside Whitehaven.
- 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 Whitehaven
How healthy is Whitehaven?
Whitehaven earns a D for health, healthier than 8% of UK towns on measures adjusted for age, and 258th of 303 UK towns of its size. Life expectancy is 75.9 for men and 78.5 for women (England 79.1 and 83.0), and there are 143 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected.
How long are A&E waits at West Cumberland Hospital?
NHS England publishes waits for the trust, North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust. In the 12 months to September 2026 it saw 54% of major-A&E patients within four hours, against 61% across England; in September 2026 the figure was 52%. In an emergency call 999; for urgent advice call NHS 111.
Can I get an NHS dentist in Whitehaven?
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.
Which GP practice in Whitehaven do patients rate highest?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, Mansion House Surgery (88% good overall), Lowther Medical Centre (71% good overall) and Fellview Healthcare (68% good overall). Across all 3 Whitehaven practices, 72% of patients rate their practice good, against 77% in England.
What is the life expectancy in Whitehaven?
75.9 years for men and 78.5 for women, on OHID’s figures for 2019 to 2023. Men can expect 60.3 of those years and women 61.7 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.