Photo: Roger A Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0How long people live in Barnstaple: 78.5 for men and 84.1 for women
For 2019 to 2023, England’s figures are 79.1 and 83.0. Inside the town, men’s life expectancy runs from 77.1 in Barnstaple Sticklepath to 81.4 in Roundswell & Landkey, 1 mile apart. Barnstaple grades C for health: life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, early deaths, hospital admissions, child obesity and Census health, each adjusted for age; #42 of 47 in Devon.
What stands out about health in Barnstaple
An NHS dentist is harder to find in Devon than anywhere else in England
Of adults in the Devon area who tried to get an NHS dental appointment in the last two years, 62% succeeded, the lowest of England’s 36 health areas; across England it was 82%. Dentists ↓
A 4-year gap from one part of Barnstaple to another
Men in Roundswell & Landkey can expect to live to 81.4, longer than the English average of 79.1. In Barnstaple Sticklepath, 1 mile away, the figure is 77.1, and Barnstaple Central records 122 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected for its ages. For women the range is 83.1 in Barnstaple South to 87.0 in Roundswell & Landkey. Neighbourhoods ↓
A&E waits run longer than England’s, but fewer patients wait 12 hours for a bed
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the A&E at North Devon District Hospital, saw 55% of major-A&E patients within four hours in the 12 months to September 2026, against 61% across England: 78th of 117 trusts. 7.6% of patients admitted through its A&Es waited more than 12 hours from the decision to admit, against 13% in England. A&E ↓
Patients rate Barnstaple’s GP practices above England’s
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 84% of patients at Barnstaple’s 3 practices called their overall experience good, against 77% across England, and 72% found it easy to get through by phone (57% in England). That is ahead of 71% 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.
Barnstaple grades C for health
Healthier than 27% of UK towns, on age-adjusted measures.
What holds the grade back: emergency admissions and men’s years in good health (better than 12% and 21% of UK towns). What lifts it: women’s life expectancy (53%) and child obesity (36%). Among the 237 UK towns of 22,000 to 42,000 people, Barnstaple’s Health Grade is the 125th 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.
62% of adults in the Devon 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 Barnstaple).
Devon has the lowest success rate of England’s 36 health areas; across England 82% of those who tried got an appointment. Of Devon patients who did, 57% 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.
84% of patients rate Barnstaple’s 3 GP practices good
GP Patient Survey 2026 (NHS England, run by Ipsos), about 100 patients a practice, against 77% across England. 32nd of 197 English towns of 22,000 to 42,000, from the highest.
| Practice | Overall experience | Easy by phone | Wait about right | CQC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brannam Medical Centre EX32 8GP · 15,846 adult patients | 90% good · range 68%–98% | 77% | 66% | Good2018 |
| Litchdon Medical Centre EX32 9LL · 13,768 adult patients | 82% good · range 57%–94% | 80% | 42% | Outstanding2019 |
| Queen's Medical Centre EX32 8HY · 9,605 adult patients | 78% good · range 63%–88% | 53% | 65% | Good2016 |
Brannam Medical Centre has the town’s highest rating (90%). 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 Barnstaple 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 Barnstaple runs from 77.1 to 81.4
Life expectancy at birth, 2019–23, in Barnstaple’s 5 middle-layer neighbourhoods (about 8,000 people each). Circles are sized by residents and show men’s life expectancy.
The gap follows deprivation closely: Barnstaple Central, where 35% of residents are income-deprived, has men’s life expectancy of 77.2. Barnstaple Central has the most deaths under 75 for its ages (122 per 100 expected), against 82 in Roundswell & Landkey.
Show every measure as a table
| Neighbourhood | Men | Women | Deaths under 75 | Emergency admissions | Year 6 obese | Income-deprived |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roundswell & Landkey | 81.4 | 87.0 | 82 | 105 | 15% | 18% |
| Barnstaple Pilton | 79.7 | 83.3 | 102 | 105 | 21% | 22% |
| Barnstaple South | 77.5 | 83.1 | 109 | 120 | 21% | 29% |
| Barnstaple Central | 77.2 | 84.0 | 122 | 128 | 24% | 35% |
| Barnstaple Sticklepath | 77.1 | 83.9 | 95 | 102 | 22% | 20% |
Deaths and admissions per 100 expected for each area’s ages (England = 100). Each figure has a range: Barnstaple Sticklepath’s men’s life expectancy is 77.1 with a 95% range of 74.4 to 79.9. Neighbourhoods are ONS middle-layer areas at least 30% inside Barnstaple; names are the House of Commons Library’s.
Royal Devon University Healthcare saw 55% 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: Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust runs the A&E at North Devon District Hospital, the nearest to Barnstaple (1.1 mi).
The share seen within four hours slipped from an average of 59% in April 2025 to September 2025 to 54% in the latest six months; England’s was 62%. Long waits for a bed are rarer than at 65% of trusts: 3,011 patients in 12 months, 7.6% of emergency admissions through A&E. CQC’s latest ratings for North Devon District Hospital: urgent and emergency services requires improvement (2019), the hospital overall requires improvement (2024).
South West trusts
Hospitals within 25 miles
| Distance | Hospital | CQC overall | Urgent & emergency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 mi | North Devon District Hospital A&E Barnstaple · Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2024 | Requires improvement2019 |
| 1.1 mi | North Devon District Hospital Barnstaple · University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust | Not rated | — |
| 10 mi | South Molton Community Hospital South Molton · Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 23 mi | Okehampton Community Hospital Okehampton · Royal Devon University Healthcare 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 Barnstaple is about 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.
25% of Barnstaple’s residents are income-deprived, more than in most English towns. For that level, the line predicts 78.4 years for men; Barnstaple’s is 78.5. For women it predicts 82.4, and Barnstaple’s 84.1 is 1.7 years above.
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.
Care in and near Barnstaple
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.
80% of residents say their health is good or very good
Census 2021, all residents, as answered (not adjusted for age).
Adjusted for age, 112 report bad health for every 100 expected, more than the national rate.
Show as a table
| Census 2021 | Barnstaple | Devon | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 80% | 82% |
| Fair health | 14% | 14% | 13% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.3% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled under the Equality Act | 20% | 21% | 17% |
| Day-to-day activities limited a lot | 8.4% | 8.7% | 7.4% |
Devon and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
Barnstaple’s Health Grade is 125th of 237 UK towns of 22,000 to 42,000
Ordered by Health Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Barnstaple, and others in Devon. 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 | Fleet Hampshire | 37,800 | 83.3 / 85.7 | 58 | A+ |
| 3 | Ascot Berkshire | 24,003 | 83.1 / 84.6 | 63 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 79 | Exmouth Devon | 35,502 | 79.8 / 84.5 | 85 | B− |
| … | |||||
| 98 | Newton Abbot Devon | 29,650 | 79.5 / 84.3 | 83 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 123 | Rushden Northamptonshire | 31,689 | 79.0 / 82.5 | 106 | C |
| 124 | Witham Essex | 27,395 | 78.9 / 82.0 | 110 | C |
| 125 | Barnstaple Devon | 31,271 | 78.5 / 84.1 | 102 | C |
| 126 | Bamber Bridge Lancashire | 40,359 | 79.3 / 82.0 | 106 | C |
| 127 | Fulwood Lancashire | 34,693 | 79.0 / 82.1 | 112 | C |
| … | |||||
| 237 | Clydebank West Dunbartonshire | 26,220 | 72.3 / 78.5 | — | 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 Barnstaple
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnstaple | 31,271 | 78.5 / 84.1 | 1.1 mi | C |
| Bickington | 2,105 | 81.4 / 87.0 | 2.4 mi | B |
| Landkey | 2,001 | 81.8 / 86.4 | 2.9 mi | B+ |
| Fremington | 5,229 | 81.3 / 84.1 | 4 mi | B− |
| Chivenor and Wrafton | 1,953 | 79.8 / 82.6 | 4 mi | B− |
| Braunton | 6,610 | 80.2 / 83.5 | 5.1 mi | B |
| Appledore | 1,711 | 79.8 / 84.7 | 6.9 mi | C+ |
| Northam | 5,191 | 81.0 / 83.6 | 7.9 mi | C+ |
Landkey, 2.5 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 81.8, 3.3 years longer than Barnstaple’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 Royal Devon University Healthcare 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 Barnstaple.
- 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 Barnstaple
How healthy is Barnstaple?
Barnstaple earns a C for health, healthier than 27% of UK towns on measures adjusted for age, and 125th of 237 UK towns of its size. Life expectancy is 78.5 for men and 84.1 for women (England 79.1 and 83.0), and there are 102 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected.
Which parts of Barnstaple have the highest life expectancy?
For men, Roundswell & Landkey (81.4), Barnstaple Pilton (79.7) and Barnstaple South (77.5); the shortest is Barnstaple Sticklepath (77.1). For women, Roundswell & Landkey is highest (87.0) and Barnstaple South lowest (83.1). OHID figures for 2019 to 2023, by neighbourhood of about 8,000 people.
How long are A&E waits at North Devon District Hospital?
NHS England publishes waits for the trust, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. In the 12 months to September 2026 it saw 55% of major-A&E patients within four hours, against 61% across England; in September 2026 the figure was 50%. In an emergency call 999; for urgent advice call NHS 111.
Can I get an NHS dentist in Barnstaple?
It is harder than in most of England. In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 62% of adults in the Devon 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 Barnstaple do patients rate highest?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, Brannam Medical Centre (90% good overall), Litchdon Medical Centre (82% good overall) and Queen's Medical Centre (78% good overall). Across all 3 Barnstaple practices, 84% of patients rate their practice good, against 77% in England.
What is the life expectancy in Barnstaple?
78.5 years for men and 84.1 for women, on OHID’s figures for 2019 to 2023. Men can expect 63.7 of those years and women 66.4 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.