Photo: Philip Halling · CC BY-SA 2.011 years separate the longest- and shortest-lived parts of Canterbury
Inside the town, men’s life expectancy runs from 72.3 in Canterbury Barracks to 82.9 in Blean Forest, Chartham Hatch & University, 1.7 miles apart. Life expectancy is 78.5 for men and 83.0 for women. Across England the figures for 2019 to 2023 are 79.1 and 83.0. Canterbury grades C for health: life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, early deaths, hospital admissions, child obesity and Census health, each adjusted for age; #63 of 87 in Kent.
What stands out about health in Canterbury
An 11-year gap from one part of Canterbury to another
Men in Blean Forest, Chartham Hatch & University can expect to live to 82.9, longer than the English average of 79.1. In Canterbury Barracks, 1.7 miles away, the figure is 72.3, and Canterbury Barracks records 182 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected for its ages. For women the range is 80.0 in Canterbury Barracks to 86.1 in Blean Forest, Chartham Hatch & University. Neighbourhoods ↓
A&E waits run longer than England’s
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the A&E at William Harvey Hospital, saw 54% of major-A&E patients within four hours in the 12 months to September 2026, against 61% across England: 86th of 117 trusts. 37% 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 Canterbury’s children are obese
23% 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 76% of UK towns. Health Grade ↓
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.
Canterbury grades C for health
Healthier than 26% of UK towns, on age-adjusted measures.
What holds the grade back: preventable deaths and deaths under 75 (better than 14% and 16% of UK towns). What lifts it: emergency admissions (55%) and women’s life expectancy (36%). Among the 138 UK towns of 39,000 to 74,000 people, Canterbury’s Health Grade is the 56th 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.
Men’s life expectancy across Canterbury runs from 72.3 to 82.9
Life expectancy at birth, 2019–23, in Canterbury’s 6 middle-layer neighbourhoods (about 8,000 people each). Circles are sized by residents and show men’s life expectancy.
The gap follows deprivation closely: Canterbury Barracks, where 42% of residents are income-deprived, has men’s life expectancy of 72.3. Canterbury Barracks has the most deaths under 75 for its ages (182 per 100 expected), against 68 in Blean Forest, Chartham Hatch & University.
Show every measure as a table
| Neighbourhood | Men | Women | Deaths under 75 | Emergency admissions | Year 6 obese | Income-deprived |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blean Forest, Chartham Hatch & University | 82.9 | 86.1 | 68 | 64 | 17% | 4.4% |
| South Canterbury | 80.4 | 84.6 | 81 | 75 | 23% | 14% |
| Canterbury Central & Westgate | 79.4 | 82.6 | 109 | 77 | 22% | 18% |
| Canterbury St Stephen's | 79.2 | 83.1 | 84 | 76 | 23% | 27% |
| Canterbury Wincheap | 77.0 | 81.9 | 125 | 101 | 26% | 29% |
| Canterbury Barracks | 72.3 | 80.0 | 182 | 113 | 25% | 42% |
Deaths and admissions per 100 expected for each area’s ages (England = 100). Each figure has a range: Canterbury Barracks’s men’s life expectancy is 72.3 with a 95% range of 70.6 to 74.1. Neighbourhoods are ONS middle-layer areas at least 30% inside Canterbury; names are the House of Commons Library’s.
East Kent Hospitals University 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: East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust runs the A&E at William Harvey Hospital, the nearest to Canterbury (12 mi).
The share seen within four hours has held near 53% over 18 months. Long waits for a bed are commoner than at 95% of trusts: 13,208 patients in 12 months, 37% of emergency admissions through A&E. CQC’s latest ratings for William Harvey Hospital: urgent and emergency services requires improvement (2026), the hospital overall requires improvement (2026).
South East trusts
Hospitals within 25 miles
| Distance | Hospital | CQC overall | Urgent & emergency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 mi | Kent & Canterbury Hospital Canterbury · East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2021 | — |
| 6.5 mi | Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital Herne Bay · Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 12 mi | William Harvey Hospital A&E Ashford · East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2026 | Requires improvement2026 |
| 14 mi | Buckland Hospital Dover · East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust | Good2015 | — |
| 14 mi | Royal Victoria Hospital Folkestone · East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust | Good2015 | — |
| 15 mi | Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital A&E Margate · East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2026 | Requires improvement2026 |
| 15 mi | Sheppey Community Hospital Sheerness · Medway NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 24 mi | Medway Maritime Hospital A&E Gillingham · Medway NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2025 | Requires improvement2025 |
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 Canterbury 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.
24% of Canterbury’s residents are income-deprived, more than in most English towns. For that level, the line predicts 78.8 years for men; Canterbury’s is 78.5. For women it predicts 82.7, and Canterbury’s 83.0 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 Canterbury
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 patients rate Canterbury’s 4 GP practices good
GP Patient Survey 2026 (NHS England, run by Ipsos), about 100 patients a practice, against 77% across England. 52nd of 115 English towns of 39,000 to 74,000, from the highest.
| Practice | Overall experience | Easy by phone | Wait about right | CQC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Dover Road Surgery CT1 3AP · 8,693 adult patients | 87% good · range 72%–94% | 59% | 63% | Good2017 |
| The University Medical Centre CT2 7PB · 11,703 adult patients | 80% good · range 66%–89% | 72% | 74% | Good2017 |
| Canterbury Health Centre CT1 3JH · 6,537 adult patients | 74% good · range 64%–82% | 72% | 71% | Good2017 |
| Northgate Medical Practice CT1 1WL · 16,790 adult patients | 72% good · range 52%–86% | 35% | 65% | Good2016 |
New Dover Road Surgery has the town’s highest rating (87%). 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 Canterbury when its main surgery is inside the built-up area; branch surgeries are part of their main practice. CQC ratings © Care Quality Commission.
84% of adults in the Kent and Medway 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 Canterbury).
Across England 82% of those who tried got an appointment. Of Kent and Medway patients who did, 75% 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 residents say their health is good or very good
Census 2021, all residents, as answered (not adjusted for age).
Canterbury’s residents are younger than Kent’s (13% are 65 or over, against 19%), which accounts for much of the difference. Adjusted for age, 105 report bad health for every 100 expected, close to the national rate.
Show as a table
| Census 2021 | Canterbury | Kent | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 82% | 82% |
| Fair health | 12% | 13% | 13% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.3% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled under the Equality Act | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Day-to-day activities limited a lot | 6.9% | 7.4% | 7.4% |
Kent and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
Canterbury’s Health Grade is 56th of 138 UK towns of 39,000 to 74,000
Ordered by Health Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Canterbury, and others in Kent. Life expectancy for men / women; deaths under 75 per 100 expected.
| # | Town | People | Life expectancy | Deaths under 75 | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wokingham Berkshire | 50,320 | 82.7 / 86.1 | 67 | A+ |
| 2 | West Molesey Surrey | 47,144 | 82.5 / 86.3 | 63 | A |
| 3 | Bishop's Stortford Hertfordshire | 40,916 | 81.9 / 85.4 | 68 | A |
| … | |||||
| 9 | Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent | 51,215 | 80.5 / 84.3 | 91 | B |
| … | |||||
| 39 | Dartford Kent | 69,131 | 78.2 / 83.1 | 98 | C |
| … | |||||
| 46 | Sittingbourne Kent | 54,385 | 78.8 / 82.0 | 104 | C |
| … | |||||
| 54 | Loughborough Leicestershire | 64,850 | 78.2 / 81.9 | 109 | C |
| 55 | Grays Essex | 44,340 | 77.9 / 82.3 | 109 | C |
| 56 | Canterbury Kent | 55,107 | 78.5 / 83.0 | 108 | C |
| 57 | Paignton Devon | 67,509 | 79.4 / 83.3 | 99 | C |
| 58 | Leyland Lancashire | 39,281 | 79.0 / 83.1 | 111 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 138 | Greenock Inverclyde | 42,870 | 73.5 / 78.2 | — | 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 Canterbury
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury | 55,107 | 78.5 / 83.0 | 12 mi | C |
| Rough Common | 1,291 | 82.9 / 86.1 | 12 mi | A− |
| Blean | 1,327 | 82.9 / 86.1 | 13 mi | A− |
| Sturry | 4,857 | 79.2 / 83.9 | 13 mi | C |
| Bridge | 1,539 | 81.4 / 82.3 | 12 mi | B |
| Chartham | 3,569 | 82.5 / 86.1 | 8.7 mi | B+ |
| Littlebourne | 1,596 | 79.1 / 81.1 | 12 mi | C+ |
| Hersden | 2,118 | 79.1 / 81.7 | 11 mi | C |
Rough Common, 1.6 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 82.9, 4.4 years longer than Canterbury’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 East Kent Hospitals University 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 Canterbury.
- 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 Canterbury
How healthy is Canterbury?
Canterbury earns a C for health, healthier than 26% of UK towns on measures adjusted for age, and 56th of 138 UK towns of its size. Life expectancy is 78.5 for men and 83.0 for women (England 79.1 and 83.0), and there are 108 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected.
Which parts of Canterbury have the highest life expectancy?
For men, Blean Forest, Chartham Hatch & University (82.9), South Canterbury (80.4) and Canterbury Central & Westgate (79.4); the shortest is Canterbury Barracks (72.3). For women, Blean Forest, Chartham Hatch & University is highest (86.1) and Canterbury Barracks lowest (80.0). OHID figures for 2019 to 2023, by neighbourhood of about 8,000 people.
How long are A&E waits at William Harvey Hospital?
NHS England publishes waits for the trust, East Kent Hospitals University 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 51%. In an emergency call 999; for urgent advice call NHS 111.
Can I get an NHS dentist in Canterbury?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 84% of adults in the Kent and Medway 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 Canterbury do patients rate highest?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, New Dover Road Surgery (87% good overall), The University Medical Centre (80% good overall) and Canterbury Health Centre (74% good overall). Across all 4 Canterbury practices, 77% of patients rate their practice good, against 77% in England.
What is the life expectancy in Canterbury?
78.5 years for men and 83.0 for women, on OHID’s figures for 2019 to 2023. Men can expect 64.0 of those years and women 66.0 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.