Photo: Roger A Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Life expectancy in Ilfracombe trails the figure across England: 76.1 for men and 81.2 for women
England as a whole stood at 79.1 and 83.0 over 2019 to 2023. Ilfracombe grades D for health: life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, early deaths, hospital admissions, child obesity and Census health, each adjusted for age.
What stands out about health in Ilfracombe
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&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 ↓
More of Ilfracombe’s children are obese
27% 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 93% of UK towns. Health Grade ↓
Men live shorter lives than Ilfracombe’s level of deprivation would suggest
31% of Ilfracombe’s residents are income-deprived. Across England’s towns that predicts men’s life expectancy of 77.2; Ilfracombe’s is 76.1. For its circumstances ↓
Patients rate Ilfracombe’s GP practices above England’s
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 85% of patients at Ilfracombe’s one practice called their overall experience good, against 77% across England, and 60% found it easy to get through by phone (57% in England). That is ahead of 75% 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.
Ilfracombe grades D for health
Healthier than 12% of UK towns, on age-adjusted measures.
Behind the typical UK town on every measure. Even its strongest, women’s years in good health and Census bad health, are in the bottom 20% of UK towns; child obesity and men’s life expectancy are furthest behind. Among the 578 UK towns of 6,000 to 12,000 people, Ilfracombe’s Health Grade is the 486th 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 Ilfracombe).
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.
85% of patients rate Ilfracombe’s GP practice good
GP Patient Survey 2026 (NHS England, run by Ipsos), about 100 patients a practice, against 77% across England. 105th of 344 English towns of 6,000 to 12,000, from the highest.
| Practice | Overall experience | Easy by phone | Wait about right | CQC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combe Coastal Practice EX34 8EG · 15,283 adult patients | 85% good · range 62%–96% | 60% | 59% | Good2017 |
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 Ilfracombe when its main surgery is inside the built-up area; branch surgeries are part of their main practice. CQC ratings © Care Quality Commission.
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 Ilfracombe (8.4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.4 mi | North Devon District Hospital A&E Barnstaple · Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2024 | Requires improvement2019 |
| 8.4 mi | North Devon District Hospital Barnstaple · University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust | Not rated | — |
| 18 mi | South Molton Community Hospital South Molton · 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 Ilfracombe is 1.1 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.
31% of Ilfracombe’s residents are income-deprived, more than in most English towns. For that level, the line predicts 77.2 years for men; Ilfracombe’s is 76.1. For women it predicts 81.4, and Ilfracombe’s 81.2 is close to it.
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 Ilfracombe
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.
Fewer people in Ilfracombe call their health good than across Devon
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 | Ilfracombe | Devon | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 80% | 82% |
| Fair health | 16% | 14% | 13% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.6% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled under the Equality Act | 24% | 21% | 17% |
| Day-to-day activities limited a lot | 10% | 8.7% | 7.4% |
Devon and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
Ilfracombe’s Health Grade is 486th of 578 UK towns of 6,000 to 12,000
Ordered by Health Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Ilfracombe, and others in Devon. Life expectancy for men / women; deaths under 75 per 100 expected.
| # | Town | People | Life expectancy | Deaths under 75 | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prestwood and Great Missenden Buckinghamshire | 7,600 | 83.7 / 88.4 | 56 | A+ |
| 2 | Little Chalfont Buckinghamshire | 6,506 | 85.1 / 89.3 | 50 | A+ |
| 3 | Esher Surrey | 9,484 | 83.1 / 85.9 | 59 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 17 | Ottery St Mary Devon | 6,043 | 83.4 / 87.8 | 49 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 144 | Bovey Tracey Devon | 6,241 | 81.0 / 86.0 | 75 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 174 | Braunton Devon | 6,610 | 80.2 / 83.5 | 89 | B |
| … | |||||
| 484 | Harworth and Bircotes Nottinghamshire | 8,885 | 77.2 / 81.0 | 124 | D |
| 485 | Brandon County Durham | 9,508 | 76.5 / 80.5 | 126 | D |
| 486 | Ilfracombe Devon | 9,199 | 76.1 / 81.2 | 126 | D |
| 487 | Treorchy Mid Glamorgan | 7,645 | — | — | D |
| 488 | Moodiesburn North Lanarkshire | 6,706 | 77.8 / 80.8 | — | D |
| … | |||||
| 578 | Methil Fife | 10,712 | 71.6 / 77.0 | — | 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 Ilfracombe
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ilfracombe | 9,199 | 76.1 / 81.2 | 8.4 mi | D |
| Chambercombe | 1,502 | 75.2 / 79.6 | 8.2 mi | C− |
| Combe Martin | 2,707 | 81.4 / 85.4 | 7.7 mi | B |
| Braunton | 6,610 | 80.2 / 83.5 | 5.1 mi | B |
| Chivenor and Wrafton | 1,953 | 79.8 / 82.6 | 4 mi | B− |
| Bickington | 2,105 | 81.4 / 87.0 | 2.4 mi | B |
| Barnstaple | 31,271 | 78.5 / 84.1 | 1.1 mi | C |
| Fremington | 5,229 | 81.3 / 84.1 | 4 mi | B− |
Combe Martin, 4 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 81.4, 5.3 years longer than Ilfracombe’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 Ilfracombe.
- 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 Ilfracombe
How healthy is Ilfracombe?
Ilfracombe earns a D for health, healthier than 12% of UK towns on measures adjusted for age, and 486th of 578 UK towns of its size. Life expectancy is 76.1 for men and 81.2 for women (England 79.1 and 83.0), and there are 126 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected.
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 Ilfracombe?
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.
How many GP practices are there in Ilfracombe?
Ilfracombe has 1 GP practice with surgeries inside the town; 1 of the 1 rated by the Care Quality Commission are good or outstanding.
What is the life expectancy in Ilfracombe?
76.1 years for men and 81.2 for women, on OHID’s figures for 2019 to 2023. Men can expect 61.2 of those years and women 64.5 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.