Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0Life expectancy in Rufford is 78.3 for men and 82.9 for women
England as a whole stood at 79.1 and 83.0 over 2019 to 2023. Rufford grades C+ for health: life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, early deaths, hospital admissions, child obesity and Census health, each adjusted for age.
Rufford grades C+ for health
Healthier than 37% of UK towns, on age-adjusted measures.
What holds the grade back: emergency admissions and deaths under 75 (better than 17% and 22% of UK towns). What lifts it: Census bad health (87%) and disability (68%). Among the 1,215 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Rufford’s Health Grade is the 1,003rd 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.
Care in and near Rufford
The nearest A&E, GP practices, and where to go when it’s urgent but not an emergency. In an emergency, call 999.
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals saw 62% 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: Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust runs the A&E at Ormskirk District General Hospital, the nearest to Rufford (5 mi).
The share seen within four hours has held near 63% over 18 months. Long waits for a bed are rarer than at 68% of trusts: 5,788 patients in 12 months, 6.2% of emergency admissions through A&E. CQC’s latest ratings for Ormskirk District General Hospital: urgent and emergency services good (2016), the hospital overall requires improvement (2019).
North West trusts
Hospitals within 25 miles
| Distance | Hospital | CQC overall | Urgent & emergency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 mi | Ormskirk District General Hospital A&E Ormskirk · Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | Requires improvement2019 | Good2016 |
| 5.4 mi | Wrightington Hospital Wigan · Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Good2020 | — |
| 6.3 mi | Southport and Formby District General Hospital A&E Southport · Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | Requires improvement2019 | Requires improvement2019 |
| 8 mi | Chorley and South Ribble Hospital A&E Chorley · Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2023 | Good2023 |
| 9.5 mi | Royal Albert Edward Infirmary A&E Wigan · Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2026 | Requires improvement2026 |
| 12 mi | Royal Preston Hospital A&E Preston · Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2023 | Requires improvement2023 |
| 12 mi | Royal Preston Hospital Preston · Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 12 mi | University Hospital Aintree A&E Liverpool · Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2025 | Good2025 |
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 Rufford itself
The nearest practices.
| Practice | Distance | CQC rating |
|---|---|---|
| Burscough Family Practice Ormskirk L40 4LA | 2.1 mi | Good2024 |
| Lathom House Surgery Ormskirk L40 4LA | 2.1 mi | Good2024 |
| Stanley Court Surgery Ormskirk L40 4LA | 2.1 mi | Good2016 |
| Croston Village Surgery Leyland PR26 9HJ | 3 mi | Good2017 |
| The Tarleton Group Practice Preston PR4 6UJ | 3.3 mi | Good2016 |
| Parbold Surgery Wigan WN8 7DN | 3.4 mi | Good2021 |
GP practices registered with the Care Quality Commission, placed in the town by their postcode. A practice counts as in Rufford 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 Lancashire and South 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 Rufford).
Across England 82% of those who tried got an appointment. Of Lancashire and South Cumbria 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.
More people in Rufford call their health good than across Lancashire
Census 2021, all residents, as answered (not adjusted for age).
Rufford’s residents are older than Lancashire’s (28% are 65 or over, against 20%), which accounts for much of the difference. Adjusted for age, 57 report bad health for every 100 expected, fewer than the national rate.
Show as a table
| Census 2021 | Rufford | Lancashire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 80% | 82% |
| Fair health | 14% | 14% | 13% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.8% | 6.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled under the Equality Act | 18% | 20% | 17% |
| Day-to-day activities limited a lot | 7.9% | 9.1% | 7.4% |
Lancashire and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
Rufford’s Health Grade is 1,003rd of 1,215 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000
Ordered by Health Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Rufford, and others in Lancashire. Life expectancy for men / women; deaths under 75 per 100 expected.
| # | Town | People | Life expectancy | Deaths under 75 | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Keswick West Yorkshire | 1,145 | 86.0 / 88.4 | 45 | A+ |
| 2 | Bardsey West Yorkshire | 1,819 | 86.0 / 88.4 | 45 | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Basildon Berkshire | 1,074 | 86.0 / 87.7 | 51 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 136 | Waddington Lancashire | 1,005 | 83.2 / 85.2 | 60 | A |
| … | |||||
| 154 | Langho Lancashire | 1,723 | 82.3 / 86.1 | 70 | A |
| … | |||||
| 268 | Barrow Lancashire | 1,388 | 81.9 / 85.7 | 76 | A |
| … | |||||
| 1001 | Leeswood Clwyd | 1,948 | — | — | C+ |
| 1002 | Staining Lancashire | 1,622 | 78.8 / 83.0 | 93 | C+ |
| 1003 | Rufford Lancashire | 1,562 | 78.3 / 82.9 | 102 | C+ |
| 1004 | Polesworth Warwickshire | 1,955 | 79.4 / 82.5 | 104 | C+ |
| 1005 | Blakeney Gloucestershire | 1,303 | 80.3 / 80.7 | 94 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 1215 | Toll Bar South Yorkshire | 1,213 | 73.1 / 77.6 | 179 | 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 Rufford
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rufford | 1,562 | 78.3 / 82.9 | 5 mi | C+ |
| Burscough | 8,773 | 77.2 / 81.8 | 2.7 mi | C |
| Croston | 2,793 | 78.1 / 80.4 | 5.7 mi | C+ |
| Parbold | 2,409 | 82.7 / 86.0 | 4.5 mi | A |
| Eccleston | 4,543 | 82.3 / 84.5 | 3.8 mi | B+ |
| Tarleton and Hesketh Bank | 8,756 | 82.3 / 84.3 | 7.2 mi | B+ |
| Wymott | 2,092 | 78.1 / 80.4 | 4.7 mi | C− |
| Banks | 4,439 | 78.3 / 82.9 | 3.8 mi | C |
Parbold, 3.5 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 82.7, 4.4 years longer than Rufford’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 Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS 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 Rufford
How healthy is Rufford?
Rufford earns a C+ for health, healthier than 37% of UK towns on measures adjusted for age, and 1,003rd of 1,215 UK towns of its size. Life expectancy is 78.3 for men and 82.9 for women (England 79.1 and 83.0), and there are 102 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected.
How long are A&E waits at Ormskirk District General Hospital?
NHS England publishes waits for the trust, Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. In the 12 months to September 2026 it saw 62% 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 Rufford?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 83% of adults in the Lancashire and South 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.
How many GP practices are there in Rufford?
There’s no GP surgery inside Rufford itself; the nearest is about 2.1 mi away.
What is the life expectancy in Rufford?
78.3 years for men and 82.9 for women, on OHID’s figures for 2019 to 2023. Men can expect 64.8 of those years and women 67.0 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.