Photo: Dave Dunford Dave.Dunford · Public domainPeople in Birch Vale live longer than across England: 80.6 for men and 84.6 for women
For 2019 to 2023, England’s figures are 79.1 and 83.0. Birch Vale has no Health Grade.
Care in and near Birch Vale
The nearest A&E, GP practices, and where to go when it’s urgent but not an emergency. In an emergency, call 999.
Stockport saw 60% 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: Stockport NHS Foundation Trust runs the A&E at Stepping Hill Hospital, the nearest to Birch Vale (6.9 mi).
The share seen within four hours has held near 61% over 18 months. Long waits for a bed are close to the typical trust’s: 3,854 patients in 12 months, 12% of emergency admissions through A&E. CQC’s latest ratings for Stepping Hill Hospital: urgent and emergency services good (2022), the hospital overall requires improvement (2024).
North West trusts
Hospitals within 25 miles
| Distance | Hospital | CQC overall | Urgent & emergency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.9 mi | Stepping Hill Hospital A&E Stockport · Stockport NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2024 | Good2022 |
| 9 mi | Tameside General Hospital A&E Ashton Under Lyne · Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust | Good2025 | Good2019 |
| 9 mi | Tameside General Hospital MFT Renal Satellite Ashton Under Lyne · Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 11 mi | Macclesfield District General Hospital A&E Macclesfield · East Cheshire NHS Trust | Requires improvement2026 | Requires improvement2026 |
| 12 mi | Manchester Royal Infirmary A&E Manchester · Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2019 | Requires improvement2019 |
| 12 mi | Royal Manchester Children's Hospital Manchester · Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust | Good2019 | — |
| 12 mi | Royal Manchester Eye Hospital Manchester · Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust | Outstanding2019 | — |
| 12 mi | Saint Mary's Hospital Manchester · Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2023 | — |
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 Birch Vale itself
The nearest practices.
| Practice | Distance | CQC rating |
|---|---|---|
| Sett Valley Medical Centre High Peak SK22 4BP | 1.6 mi | Outstanding2016 |
| Arden House Medical Practice High Peak SK22 4AQ | 1.8 mi | Good2017 |
| Goyt Valley Medical & Dental Practice High Peak SK23 7SR | 3.4 mi | Outstanding2016 |
| Marple Bridge Surgery Stockport SK6 5AA | 4 mi | Good2018 |
| Marple Cottage Surgery Stockport SK6 6BW | 4.1 mi | Outstanding2018 |
| Simmondley Medical Practice Glossop SK13 6NN | 4.2 mi | Good2017 |
GP practices registered with the Care Quality Commission, placed in the town by their postcode. A practice counts as in Birch Vale 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.
83% of adults in the Derby and Derbyshire 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 Birch Vale).
Across England 82% of those who tried got an appointment. Of Derby and Derbyshire patients who did, 74% 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 Birch Vale call their health good than across Derbyshire
Census 2021, all residents, as answered (not adjusted for age).
Adjusted for age, 71 report bad health for every 100 expected, fewer than the national rate.
Show as a table
| Census 2021 | Birch Vale | Derbyshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 80% | 82% |
| Fair health | 11% | 14% | 13% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.6% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled under the Equality Act | 15% | 20% | 17% |
| Day-to-day activities limited a lot | 5.5% | 8.5% | 7.4% |
Derbyshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
Health in the places around Birch Vale
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birch Vale | 523 | 80.6 / 84.6 | 6.9 mi | — |
| Hayfield | 1,878 | 79.0 / 82.9 | 7.7 mi | C |
| New Mills | 9,195 | 80.1 / 83.8 | 5.5 mi | C+ |
| Furness Vale | 1,069 | 80.6 / 84.6 | 6.3 mi | B+ |
| Chinley | 1,913 | 81.0 / 83.9 | 8.5 mi | B |
| Disley | 3,891 | 83.0 / 84.1 | 4.4 mi | A |
| Whaley Bridge | 4,618 | 81.7 / 84.3 | 7.1 mi | A− |
| Marple Bridge | 4,702 | 83.6 / 87.6 | 3.7 mi | A+ |
Marple Bridge, 3.8 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 83.6, 3.0 years longer than Birch Vale’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 Stockport 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 Birch Vale
How long are A&E waits at Stepping Hill Hospital?
NHS England publishes waits for the trust, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust. In the 12 months to September 2026 it saw 60% of major-A&E patients within four hours, against 61% across England; in September 2026 the figure was 63%. In an emergency call 999; for urgent advice call NHS 111.
Can I get an NHS dentist in Birch Vale?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 83% of adults in the Derby and Derbyshire 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 Birch Vale?
There’s no GP surgery inside Birch Vale itself; the nearest is about 1.6 mi away.
What is the life expectancy in Birch Vale?
80.6 years for men and 84.6 for women, on OHID’s figures for 2019 to 2023. Men can expect 68.4 of those years and women 70.0 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.