Photo: Gary Rogers · CC BY-SA 2.0Across St Helens, life expectancy spans 15 years from one area to another
Inside the city, men’s life expectancy runs from 68.4 in Town Centre East & Fingerpost to 83.3 in Eccleston, 2.3 miles apart. Life expectancy is 76.1 for men and 80.1 for women. England as a whole stood at 79.1 and 83.0 over 2019 to 2023. St Helens grades D− for health: life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, early deaths, hospital admissions, child obesity and Census health, each adjusted for age; #19 of 25 in Merseyside.
What stands out about health in St Helens
A 15-year gap from one part of St Helens to another
Men in Eccleston can expect to live to 83.3, longer than the English average of 79.1. In Town Centre East & Fingerpost, 2.3 miles away, the figure is 68.4, and Town Centre East & Fingerpost records 253 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected for its ages. For women the range is 75.6 in Town Centre East & Fingerpost to 85.7 in Eccleston. Neighbourhoods ↓
More of St Helens’ 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 94% of UK towns. Health Grade ↓
Patients rate St Helens’ GP practices above England’s
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 80% of patients at St Helens’ 17 practices called their overall experience good, against 77% across England, and 62% found it easy to get through by phone (57% in England). That is ahead of 54% 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.
St Helens grades D− for health
Healthier than 5% of UK towns, on age-adjusted measures.
Behind the typical UK town on every measure. Even its strongest, disability and men’s life expectancy, are in the bottom 15% of UK towns; emergency admissions and deaths under 75 are furthest behind.
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 St Helens runs from 68.4 to 83.3
Life expectancy at birth, 2019–23, in St Helens’ 13 middle-layer neighbourhoods (about 8,000 people each). Circles are sized by residents and show men’s life expectancy.
The gap follows deprivation closely: Town Centre East & Fingerpost, where 50% of residents are income-deprived, has men’s life expectancy of 68.4. Town Centre East & Fingerpost has the most deaths under 75 for its ages (253 per 100 expected), against 54 in Eccleston.
Show every measure as a table
| Neighbourhood | Men | Women | Deaths under 75 | Emergency admissions | Year 6 obese | Income-deprived |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eccleston | 83.3 | 85.7 | 54 | 94 | 18% | 7% |
| Eccleston Park | 81.2 | 82.8 | 90 | 113 | 25% | 17% |
| Windle & Denton's Green | 78.3 | 83.2 | 115 | 121 | 22% | 20% |
| Nutgrove & Lea Green | 78.3 | 81.2 | 106 | — | 24% | 21% |
| West Park | 77.5 | 80.3 | 132 | 142 | 26% | 26% |
| Moss Bank | 77.1 | 82.5 | 123 | 127 | 30% | 28% |
| Sutton Leach | 76.7 | 80.7 | 132 | 141 | 26% | 27% |
| Thatto Heath | 76.4 | 79.9 | 153 | — | 29% | 45% |
| Bold & Clock Face | 76.1 | 79.2 | 143 | 143 | 30% | 34% |
| Broad Oak | 73.6 | 76.9 | 189 | 156 | 30% | 50% |
| Derbyshire Hill | 73.5 | 75.6 | 205 | 150 | 32% | 47% |
| Town Centre West | 70.1 | 78.0 | 214 | 184 | 32% | 46% |
| Town Centre East & Fingerpost | 68.4 | 75.6 | 253 | 199 | 29% | 50% |
Deaths and admissions per 100 expected for each area’s ages (England = 100). Each figure has a range: Town Centre East & Fingerpost’s men’s life expectancy is 68.4 with a 95% range of 66.6 to 70.3. Neighbourhoods are ONS middle-layer areas at least 30% inside St Helens; names are the House of Commons Library’s.
80% of patients rate St Helens’ 17 GP practices good
GP Patient Survey 2026 (NHS England, run by Ipsos), about 100 patients a practice, against 77% across England. 18th of 71 English towns of 75,000 to 145,000, from the highest.
| Practice | Overall experience | Easy by phone | Wait about right | CQC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hall Street Medical Centre WA10 1DW · 5,219 adult patients | 95% good · range 87%–98% | 88% | 87% | Good2023 |
| Dr Momosir Ali WA10 2DJ · 2,165 adult patients | 93% good · range 90%–95% | 84% | 94% | Good2017 |
| Windermere Medical Centre WA11 7AG · 2,994 adult patients | 93% good · range 89%–95% | 83% | 80% | Good2022 |
| Dr Khalid Laghari WA10 2HT · 2,614 adult patients | 91% good · range 87%–93% | 88% | 80% | Good2016 |
| Ormskirk House Surgery WA10 2DJ · 5,953 adult patients | 88% good · range 80%–93% | 79% | 82% | Good2015 |
| Eccleston Medical Centre WA10 5RG · 4,916 adult patients | 88% good · range 82%–92% | 74% | 74% | Good2023 |
| Mill Street Medical Centre WA10 2BD · 8,646 adult patients | 87% good · range 73%–94% | 55% | 84% | Good2016 |
| Bethany Medical Centre WA10 4GW · 3,433 adult patients | 87% good · range 82%–90% | 85% | 75% | Good2026 |
| Newholme Surgery WA10 2DJ · 2,701 adult patients | 85% good · range 80%–88% | 87% | 88% | Good2017 |
| The Spinney Medical Centre WA10 3EB · 5,907 adult patients | 80% good · range 70%–88% | 53% | 73% | Good2016 |
| Phoenix Medical Centre WA10 2HT · 2,772 adult patients | 79% good · range 75%–83% | 57% | 64% | Not rated |
| Rainbow Medical Centre WA9 3PN · 11,672 adult patients | 79% good · range 60%–90% | 53% | 69% | Good2022 |
| Central Surgery WA10 2DJ · 5,375 adult patients | 78% good · range 68%–85% | 71% | 69% | Good2016 |
| Berrymead Medical Centre WA9 3RP · 6,482 adult patients | 75% good · range 64%–84% | 51% | 68% | Good2017 |
| Four Acre Health Centre WA9 4QB · 6,334 adult patients | 70% good · range 58%–80% | 43% | 77% | Good2026 |
| Bowery Medical Centre WA9 5PR · 3,917 adult patients | 67% good · range 56%–77% | 58% | 54% | Good2018 |
| Atlas Medical Practice WA9 1LN · 9,477 adult patients | 65% good · range 49%–78% | 42% | 66% | Good2017 |
Hall Street Medical Centre has the city’s highest rating (95%). Rainbow Medical Centre is by far the largest, with 11,672 adult patients. 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 St Helens 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 in St Helens is 0.9 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.
32% of St Helens’ residents are income-deprived, more than in most English towns. For that level, the line predicts 77.0 years for men; St Helens’ is 76.1. For women it predicts 81.2, and St Helens’ 80.1 is 1.1 years below.
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 St Helens
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.
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 Whiston Hospital, the nearest to St Helens (2.6 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 Whiston Hospital: urgent and emergency services requires improvement (2025).
North West trusts
Hospitals within 25 miles
| Distance | Hospital | CQC overall | Urgent & emergency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 mi | St Helens Hospital St Helens · Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | Good2023 | — |
| 2.6 mi | Whiston Hospital A&E Prescot · Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | Not rated | Requires improvement2025 |
| 4.4 mi | Newton Community Hospital Newton Le Willows · Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | Not rated | — |
| 6.6 mi | Warrington Hospital A&E Warrington · North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust | Good2024 | Good2017 |
| 6.7 mi | Alder Hey Children's Hospital Liverpool · Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust | Good2020 | — |
| 6.9 mi | Broadgreen Hospital Liverpool · Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 6.9 mi | Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital Liverpool · Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Outstanding2019 | — |
| 7.9 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.
81% of adults in the Cheshire and Merseyside 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 St Helens).
Across England 82% of those who tried got an appointment. Of Cheshire and Merseyside 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.
77% of residents say their health is good or very good
Census 2021, all residents, as answered (not adjusted for age).
Adjusted for age, 154 report bad health for every 100 expected, more than the national rate.
Show as a table
| Census 2021 | St Helens | Merseyside | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 78% | 82% |
| Fair health | 15% | 14% | 13% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.2% | 7.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled under the Equality Act | 23% | 22% | 17% |
| Day-to-day activities limited a lot | 12% | 11% | 7.4% |
Merseyside and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
How St Helens compares with UK towns of 75,000 to 145,000
Ordered by Health Grade: the top three, the towns either side of St Helens, and others in Merseyside. Life expectancy for men / women; deaths under 75 per 100 expected.
| # | Town | People | Life expectancy | Deaths under 75 | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Albans Hertfordshire | 75,544 | 80.7 / 84.6 | 79 | A− |
| 2 | Guildford Surrey | 77,870 | 81.4 / 85.5 | 78 | B+ |
| 3 | Kensington and Chelsea London | 143,348 | 81.5 / 86.2 | 72 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 36 | Southport Merseyside | 94,438 | 78.3 / 82.3 | 114 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 61 | Wallasey Merseyside | 85,619 | 76.7 / 80.8 | 132 | D |
| … | |||||
| 68 | Hartlepool County Durham | 88,001 | 76.1 / 80.3 | 139 | D |
| 69 | Preston Lancashire | 94,502 | 74.5 / 79.6 | 163 | D |
| 70 | St Helens Merseyside | 107,684 | 76.1 / 80.1 | 145 | D− |
| 71 | Salford Greater Manchester | 108,431 | 74.4 / 78.6 | 152 | D− |
| 72 | Derry City Derry City and Strabane | 85,279 | 76.6 / 80.2 | — | D− |
| … | |||||
| 74 | Birkenhead Merseyside | 109,854 | 75.4 / 80.0 | 158 | D− |
| 75 | Oldham Greater Manchester | 110,722 | 74.0 / 78.2 | 166 | 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 St Helens
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Helens | 107,684 | 76.1 / 80.1 | 2.6 mi | D− |
| Prescot | 39,227 | 77.9 / 81.2 | 0.2 mi | D |
| Haydock | 16,143 | 77.3 / 79.8 | 5.6 mi | D |
| Billinge | 4,963 | 80.8 / 83.1 | 5.6 mi | C+ |
| Burtonwood | 3,504 | 77.0 / 79.3 | 3.2 mi | D |
| Cronton | 1,234 | 81.5 / 84.1 | 2.2 mi | B− |
| Rainford | 5,573 | 79.4 / 83.9 | 5.5 mi | B− |
| Newton-le-Willows | 24,651 | 76.4 / 80.4 | 4.2 mi | D |
Cronton, 4 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 81.5, 5.4 years longer than St Helens’.
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).
- 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 St Helens.
- 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 St Helens
How healthy is St Helens?
St Helens earns a D− for health, healthier than 5% of UK towns on measures adjusted for age. Life expectancy is 76.1 for men and 80.1 for women (England 79.1 and 83.0), and there are 145 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected.
Which parts of St Helens have the highest life expectancy?
For men, Eccleston (83.3), Eccleston Park (81.2) and Windle & Denton's Green (78.3); the shortest is Town Centre East & Fingerpost (68.4). For women, Eccleston is highest (85.7) and Town Centre East & Fingerpost lowest (75.6). OHID figures for 2019 to 2023, by neighbourhood of about 8,000 people.
How long are A&E waits at Whiston 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 St Helens?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 81% of adults in the Cheshire and Merseyside 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 St Helens do patients rate highest?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, Hall Street Medical Centre (95% good overall), Dr Momosir Ali (93% good overall) and Windermere Medical Centre (93% good overall). Across all 17 St Helens practices, 80% of patients rate their practice good, against 77% in England.
What is the life expectancy in St Helens?
76.1 years for men and 80.1 for women, on OHID’s figures for 2019 to 2023. Men can expect 59.7 of those years and women 61.4 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.