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C−Health Grade
Health in Magherafelt · NISRA, Department of Health

Life expectancy in Magherafelt is 79.2 for men and 83.0 for women

They cover 2022 to 2024 and the district electoral areas around Magherafelt, against 78.3 and 82.2 across Northern Ireland’s towns. Magherafelt grades C− for health: life expectancy, and Census bad health and disability adjusted for age; #3 of 5 in Mid Ulster.

32%seen in 4 hours at A&E52%of outpatients wait over a year17 mito the nearest A&E
Life expectancy, men
79.2
years at birth, 2022–24
Life expectancy, women
83.0
years at birth, 2022–24
Preventable deaths
138
per 100,000 under 75, 2020–24
Northern Ireland 181
Year 8 obesity
6.5%
of children aged 11 to 12, Mid Ulster, 2024/25
Northern Ireland 6%
What stands out · In brief

What stands out about health in Magherafelt

138preventable deaths per 100,000 · Northern Ireland 181

Fewer early deaths from preventable causes

In the district electoral areas around Magherafelt, 138 people in every 100,000 died before 75 from causes public health could largely prevent, such as smoking, alcohol, drugs and some cancers and heart disease (age-standardised, 2020 to 2024): 24% fewer than across Northern Ireland. Against Northern Ireland ↓

Written from the NISRA, Department of Health and NIMDM figures on this page. Life expectancy covers 2022 to 2024 for the district electoral areas around the town.

Health Grade

Magherafelt grades C− for health

Healthier than 21% of UK towns, on age-adjusted measures.

Life expectancy, men (79.2 years)Better than 33% of UK towns
Life expectancy, women (83.0 years)Better than 35% of UK towns
Bad or very bad health (Census) (149 per 100 expected)Better than 9% of UK towns
Disabled (Census) (137 per 100 expected)Better than 8% of UK towns

Behind the typical UK town on every measure. Even its strongest, women’s life expectancy and men’s life expectancy, are in the bottom 40% of UK towns; disability and Census bad health are furthest behind. Among the 578 UK towns of 6,000 to 12,000 people, Magherafelt’s Health Grade is the 421st 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; the Census answers are counted against what England and Wales’s rates by single year of age would give a town with these ages, so a seaside town of retired people isn’t marked down for being old.

Northern Ireland towns’ Health Grades use NISRA’s life expectancy for 2022 to 2024 in the district electoral areas around the town, and two Census 2021 measures, bad health and disability, adjusted for age to the same standard as England and Wales. Healthy life expectancy isn’t published for Northern Ireland’s areas, and its early-death, hospital and child-obesity figures cover district electoral areas or council areas rather than small areas, so the Health page compares those with Northern Ireland without grading them.

Against Northern Ireland

Around Magherafelt, preventable deaths and treatable deaths compare well with Northern Ireland

Department of Health measures for the district electoral area Magherafelt sits in (about 23,000 people each), weighted by the town’s residents in each; child obesity is for Mid Ulster council. Bars run to the highest of Northern Ireland’s 63 towns; the tick is Northern Ireland.

Preventable deathsunder 75, per 100,000, age-standardised
13819th lowest of 63
Treatable deathsunder 75, per 100,000, age-standardised
7023rd lowest of 63
Emergency admissionsper 100,000, age-standardised
7,06032nd highest of 63
Mood and anxiety medicinepeople prescribed it per 1,000, age-standardised
21027th lowest of 63
Registered with a dentistresidents, health service dentists
46%14th lowest of 63
Children with a dentistunder-18s, health service dentists
70%30th lowest of 63
Year 8 children obeseaged 11 to 12, council area
6.5%28th highest of 63
P1 children obeseaged 4 to 5, council area
4.8%lowest of 63 NI towns
Northern Ireland10%+ better10%+ worse

Department of Health (Northern Ireland), Health and Social Care Inequalities Monitoring System, via the NISRA data portal: deaths 2020–24, admissions 2024/25, prescriptions 2024, dental registrations 2025/26 (BSO; registrations per Census 2021 resident), child BMI 2024/25 (Child Health System). Preventable and treatable deaths follow the OECD/Eurostat lists. Not graded: these are published for areas larger than the town, so neighbouring villages share its figures.

Neighbourhoods

2 of Magherafelt’s 5 small areas are among Northern Ireland’s most health-deprived fifth

NIMDM 2017’s health deprivation and disability rank for the 5 small areas (Super Output Areas, about 2,000 people each) that make up Magherafelt: 1st is the most deprived of Northern Ireland’s 890. It combines preventable deaths, emergency admissions, long-term illness, cancer, low birth weight, children’s dental extractions, repeat prescriptions and mental health.

Glebe 2: 122nd most health-deprived of 8902Town Parks East 2: 137th most health-deprived of 8902Town Parks West: 358th most health-deprived of 8905Town Parks East 1: 463rd most health-deprived of 8906Glebe 1: 657th most health-deprived of 8908
Most deprived 20%20–40%Middle60–80%Least deprived 20%
Glebe 2
122nd
Town Parks East 2
137th
Town Parks West
358th
Town Parks East 1
463rd
Glebe 1
657th
Rank of 890: a longer bar is less deprivedThe middle

Glebe 2 is Magherafelt’s most health-deprived area (122nd of 890; preventable deaths 103 per 100 expected; 14% in low-income households), and Glebe 1 the least (657th; 53 per 100 expected; 12%). 30% of the town’s residents live in Northern Ireland’s most health-deprived fifth of areas.

Show as a table
Small areaRank of 890Preventable deathsEmergency admissionsLow incomeOf Magherafelt’s residents
Glebe 2122nd10314414%18%
Town Parks East 2137th19413415%12%
Town Parks West358th939611%24%
Town Parks East 1463rd726915%15%
Glebe 1657th535312%22%

NISRA, Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 (2001 Super Output Areas; most indicators 2014 to 2016, and no newer edition). Deaths and admissions are per 100 expected for each area’s ages (Northern Ireland = 100); low income is the share of residents in households below 60% of Northern Ireland’s median income. An area counts for Magherafelt when 30% of its residents, or 10% of the town’s, live in the town (Census 2021 residents, by area). Names are NISRA’s.

For its circumstances

Men’s life expectancy in Magherafelt is about what its share of low incomes predicts

Across Northern Ireland’s 80 district electoral areas, men’s life expectancy falls as the share of low-income households rises, loosely (correlation −0.39). Each dot is an area; the town’s figures average the areas it covers.

727680840%10%20%30%Airport: 80.9, 10% low incomeAntrim: 77.9, 11% low incomeBallyclare: 79.5, 10% low incomeDunsilly: 80.7, 11% low incomeGlengormley Urban: 80.0, 8.9% low incomeMacedon: 76.3, 13% low incomeThree Mile Water: 80.5, 9.6% low incomeArmagh: 77.7, 16% low incomeBanbridge: 79.7, 13% low incomeCraigavon: 79.5, 12% low incomeCusher: 80.5, 14% low incomeLagan River: 81.6, 12% low incomeLurgan: 77.5, 13% low incomePortadown: 78.4, 15% low incomeBalmoral: 81.2, 8.7% low incomeBlack Mountain: 73.4, 12% low incomeBotanic: 78.3, 12% low incomeCastle: 75.7, 14% low incomeCollin: 76.4, 13% low incomeCourt: 74.3, 17% low incomeLisnasharragh: 79.4, 8.4% low incomeOldpark: 73.2, 17% low incomeOrmiston: 79.6, 8.4% low incomeTitanic: 75.1, 14% low incomeBallymoney: 80.2, 13% low incomeBann: 82.4, 16% low incomeBenbradagh: 80.5, 16% low incomeCauseway: 78.6, 15% low incomeColeraine: 77.7, 15% low incomeLimavady: 76.7, 14% low incomeThe Glens: 78.4, 15% low incomeBallyarnett: 77.8, 15% low incomeDerg: 80.0, 16% low incomeFaughan: 79.3, 13% low incomeFoyleside: 76.6, 15% low incomeSperrin: 78.6, 17% low incomeThe Moor: 72.9, 20% low incomeWaterside: 77.7, 14% low incomeEnniskillen: 79.8, 15% low incomeErne East: 79.1, 18% low incomeErne North: 80.5, 17% low incomeErne West: 81.9, 16% low incomeMid Tyrone: 81.1, 14% low incomeOmagh: 76.8, 14% low incomeWest Tyrone: 79.9, 13% low incomeCastlereagh East: 80.4, 9.2% low incomeCastlereagh South: 82.6, 7.3% low incomeDownshire East: 82.1, 11% low incomeDownshire West: 80.5, 9.5% low incomeKillultagh: 82.6, 10% low incomeLisburn North: 79.1, 10% low incomeLisburn South: 77.9, 12% low incomeBallymena: 76.9, 13% low incomeBannside: 81.1, 11% low incomeBraid: 79.2, 13% low incomeCarrick Castle: 79.1, 11% low incomeCoast Road: 77.8, 13% low incomeKnockagh: 81.0, 10% low incomeLarne Lough: 78.1, 12% low incomeCarntogher: 81.8, 14% low incomeClogher Valley: 79.1, 14% low incomeCookstown: 79.1, 14% low incomeDungannon: 78.9, 13% low incomeMagherafelt: 79.2, 13% low incomeMoyola: 80.3, 12% low incomeTorrent: 78.7, 14% low incomeCrotlieve: 80.2, 15% low incomeDownpatrick: 79.4, 13% low incomeNewry: 77.5, 15% low incomeRowallane: 79.5, 12% low incomeSlieve Croob: 80.6, 14% low incomeSlieve Gullion: 79.2, 21% low incomeThe Mournes: 79.6, 15% low incomeArds Peninsula: 80.2, 14% low incomeBangor Central: 79.8, 13% low incomeBangor East and Donaghadee: 82.2, 11% low incomeBangor West: 78.9, 12% low incomeComber: 80.1, 12% low incomeHolywood and Clandeboye: 80.4, 11% low incomeNewtownards: 78.5, 14% low incomeMagherafelt 79.2
Residents in low-income households (NIMDM 2017) →Men’s life expectancy, years

13% of Magherafelt’s residents live in low-income households (13% across Northern Ireland). For that share, the line predicts 79.1 years for men; Magherafelt’s is 79.2. Income explains only part of the spread in Northern Ireland, so treat the gap as a rough guide.

Life expectancy: NISRA by district electoral area, 2022 to 2024. Low income: NIMDM 2017 income domain, the share of residents in households below 60% of Northern Ireland’s median income, averaged over each area’s small areas by Census 2021 residents. English towns’ version of this chart uses England’s Indices of Deprivation, so the two can’t be compared.

Getting care

Care in and near Magherafelt

The nearest emergency department, GP practices, and where to go when it’s urgent but not an emergency. In an emergency, call 999.

Nearest A&E
17 mi
Antrim Area Hospital, Antrim
Directions →
GP practices in Magherafelt
4
with an address in the town
Practices ↓
Urgent, not an emergency
GP
Call your GP practice; when it’s closed, call GP Out of Hours
GP Out of Hours on nidirect →
A&E

Antrim Area Hospital saw 32% of patients within four hours

The nearest full emergency department to Magherafelt, 17 mi away: patients seen, admitted or discharged within four hours of arrival, by month, against Northern Ireland’s full emergency departments. The standard is 95%.

20%30%40%50%Jul 23Jan 24Jul 24Jan 25Jul 25Jan 26Jun 2633%33%
Antrim Area HospitalNorthern Ireland’s full emergency departments
32%
within four hours, 12 months to Jun 2026 · Northern Ireland 32%
5th of 9
full emergency departments for adults, from the most seen in four hours
21%
of patients spent more than 12 hours in the department · Northern Ireland 22%
33%
within four hours in June 2026 · Northern Ireland 33%

Ten years earlier, from July 2016 to June 2017, Antrim Area Hospital saw 69% of patients within four hours, and 2% stayed more than 12 hours.

Northern Ireland’s full emergency departments, last 12 months

Causeway Hospital
46%
South West Acute Hospital
39%
Daisy Hill Hospital
38%
Craigavon Area Hospital
33%
Antrim Area Hospital
32%
Mater Hospital
32%
Altnagelvin Area Hospital
26%
Ulster Hospital
17%
Royal Victoria Hospital
16%
Northern Ireland 32%The standard is 95%

Nearest emergency care

Nearest emergency careDistanceWithin 4 h, 2025/26Over 12 h
Mid Ulster Hospital
Urgent care / minor injuries		0.7 mi100%—Directions
Antrim Area Hospital
Emergency department		17 mi33%20%Directions
South Tyrone Hospital
Urgent care / minor injuries		18 mi100%0%Directions
Craigavon Area Hospital
Emergency department		23 mi33%27%Directions
Causeway Hospital
Emergency department		26 mi46%15%Directions
Lagan Valley Hospital
Urgent care / minor injuries		28 mi73%0%Directions

Urgent care centres and minor injuries units see patients with less serious injuries and illnesses, and most of their patients are seen within four hours; the full emergency departments take the most serious cases and the longest waits. Distances are straight-line from the middle of Magherafelt.

Department of Health (Northern Ireland): emergency care waiting times by department, monthly to June 2026 (NISRA), and emergency care activity 2025/26 (the table), time from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge. Full emergency departments are type 1; the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children is for children only and isn’t ranked.

Waiting lists

52% of the Northern Trust’s outpatients have waited more than a year

People waiting at the end of June 2026 for a first outpatient appointment, an operation or a diagnostic test with the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, which runs the hospitals nearest Magherafelt.

Outpatients, over a year
52%
86,068 waiting for a first appointment
Northern Ireland 54%
Operations, over a year
20%
6,756 waiting as an inpatient or day case
Northern Ireland 34%
Tests, over 26 weeks
28%
49,174 waiting for scans, scopes and other tests
Northern Ireland 35%
Cancer, within 62 days
29%
of urgent referrals starting treatment, April–June 2026
Northern Ireland 28% · target 95%

Outpatients waiting more than a year, by trust

Southern
55%
South Eastern
54%
Belfast
53%
Western
53%
Northern
52%
Northern Ireland 54%

26% of the trust’s outpatients had been waiting more than two years. Waiting lists are kept by trust, not town: patients from Magherafelt can be referred to another trust’s hospital, and Belfast’s lists include regional specialties for all of Northern Ireland.

Department of Health (Northern Ireland), waiting times statistics, quarter ending June 2026 (outpatients, inpatients and day cases, diagnostics; encompass system), and cancer waiting times, April to June 2026 (the target: 95% of patients urgently referred with suspected cancer start treatment within 62 days). Day procedure centres count in Northern Ireland’s totals, not a trust’s. A town’s trust is the one for its main district electoral area.

GP practices

4 GP practices in Magherafelt, with 36,775 registered patients

Every practice on the Business Services Organisation’s list with an address in Magherafelt, and how many patients each has registered. Northern Ireland has no GP patient survey, so practices can’t be compared on what patients think of them.

GP practices
4
with an address in Magherafelt
36,775 patients registered
Patients per practice
9,194
average list size
Northern Ireland 6,845
Pharmacies
3
community pharmacies in Magherafelt
that dispensed in August 2026
PracticePatients
Castledawson Surgery
Dr. Woulahan & Partners · Station Road, Castledawson, Magherafelt BT45 8AZ		8,555
Draperstown Surgery
Dr. Logan & Partners · 6 Tobermore Road, Draperstown, Magherafelt BT45 7AG		9,153
Garden Street Surgery
Dr. Walls & Partners · 29 Garden Street, Magherafelt BT45 5DD		10,512
The Diamond Medical Centre
Dr. Morris & Partners · Market Square, Magherafelt BT45 6ED		8,555
The 3 pharmacies in Magherafelt
  • Magherafelt Healthcare 38 Rainey Street, Magherafelt BT45 5AQ
  • Magherafelt Healthcare Ltd T/A O'Brien'S Pharmacy 5 Broad Street, Magherafelt BT45 6EB
  • N & R Gordon Ltd T/A Gordons Chemists 1 Meeting Street, Magherafelt BT45 6BN

HSC Business Services Organisation: GP practice list sizes, July 2026, and dispensing by contractor, August 2026 (Open Data NI). A practice counts for Magherafelt when its postcode or address places it in the town; registered patients include people living outside it. A practice with no town in its address may be missing; nidirect lists every practice. Find a GP on nidirect →

Dentists

46% of people around Magherafelt are registered with a health service dentist

Registrations with a Health and Social Care dentist in the district electoral areas around Magherafelt, for every 100 residents (Census 2021), against 50% across Northern Ireland. Whether a surgery is taking on new HSC patients isn’t published: ask the surgery.

Registered with a dentist
46%
of residents, 2025/26
Northern Ireland 50%
Children registered
70%
of under-18s
Northern Ireland 68%
Dental surgeries
7
with an address in Magherafelt
June 2026
The 7 dental surgeries in Magherafelt
  • 11 Kirk Avenue Magherafelt, BT45 6BT
  • 11 The Diamond Centre Magherafelt BT45 6EB
  • 1St Floor 40 Ballyronan Road, Magherafelt BT45 6EN
  • 32 Rainey Street Magherafelt BT45 5AQ
  • 34 High Street Draperstown, Magherafelt BT45 7AA
  • 36 King Street Magherafelt BT45 6AS
  • Unit 18 The Diamond Centre, Magherafelt BT45 6ED

HSC Business Services Organisation: general dental services registrations by district electoral area and age, 2025/26 (NISRA data portal).

HSC Business Services Organisation: general dental services, surgery list at 30 June 2026 (Open Data NI). A surgery counts for Magherafelt when its postcode or address places it in the town. Finding a dentist on nidirect →

Census health

80% of residents say their health is good or very good

Census 2021, all residents, as answered (not adjusted for age).

Magherafelt80% · 7.2%
Mid Ulster79% · 7.5%
Northern Ireland77% · 8.7%
Good or very goodFairBad or very bad

Adjusted for age, 149 report bad health for every 100 expected, more than the national rate.

Show as a table
Census 2021MagherafeltMid UlsterNorthern Ireland
Good or very good health80%79%77%
Fair health13%13%14%
Bad or very bad health7.2%7.5%8.7%
Disabled under the Equality Act23%23%26%
Day-to-day activities limited a lot11%11%13%

Mid Ulster and Northern Ireland: all residents of their settlements (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 data zones.

Towns its size

Magherafelt’s Health Grade is 421st of 578 UK towns of 6,000 to 12,000

Ordered by Health Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Magherafelt, and others in Mid Ulster. Life expectancy for men / women; deaths under 75 per 100 expected.

#TownPeopleLife expectancyDeaths under 75Health
1Prestwood and Great Missenden Buckinghamshire7,60083.7 / 88.456A+
2Little Chalfont Buckinghamshire6,50685.1 / 89.350A+
3Esher Surrey9,48483.1 / 85.959A+
…
419Eckington Derbyshire7,43579.2 / 82.4108C−
420Ballynahinch Newry, Mourne and Down6,16479.5 / 82.9—C−
421Magherafelt Mid Ulster8,99679.2 / 83.0—C−
422Ballyclare Antrim and Newtownabbey10,85079.5 / 82.5—C−
423Brierfield Lancashire10,72379.4 / 82.198C−
…
578Methil Fife10,71271.6 / 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. Northern Ireland’s towns are graded on life expectancy (NISRA, 2022 to 2024) and the two Census measures.

Neighbours

Health in the places around Magherafelt

Life expectancy for men / women. Tap a town for its health page.

Maghera: Health Grade C+Cookstown: Health Grade C−Randalstown: Health Grade CMagheraCookstownRandalstownMagherafelt
ABCD
TownPeopleLife expectancyHealth
Magherafelt8,99679.2 / 83.0C−
Maghera4,23581.8 / 85.4C+
Cookstown12,54679.1 / 83.1C−
Randalstown5,15180.7 / 83.3C

Maghera, 6.9 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 81.8, 2.6 years longer than Magherafelt’s.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Adjusted for age. A ratio of 100 means as many reports of bad health or disability as England and Wales’s rates would give a town with these ages; 120 means a fifth more. Northern Ireland’s ratios run high on that standard (people here report more ill health at every age), while life expectancy is close to England’s.
  • Life expectancy for the area around the town. NISRA publishes life expectancy for district electoral areas of about 23,000 people; the town’s figure averages the areas it covers, weighted by how many of their residents live in it.
  • Areas larger than the town. Deaths, admissions, prescriptions and dental registrations are published for district electoral areas, and child obesity for council areas, so villages near Magherafelt share its figures. The neighbourhood ranks use NIMDM 2017, Northern Ireland’s latest deprivation measure, whose indicators mostly date from 2014 to 2016.
  • Waiting lists are by trust. The Department of Health publishes waiting lists for each of the five Health and Social Care trusts, not for hospitals or towns; a town’s trust is the one that serves its main district electoral area.
  • Different years. Life expectancy covers 2022 to 2024; deaths 2020 to 2024; emergency department waits the months to June 2026; waiting lists the end of June 2026; the Census was taken in March 2021.
  • Not graded. Only life expectancy and the two Census measures feed the Health Grade, as they’re the only ones that match English and Welsh towns’ figures. Everything else on this page is compared with Northern Ireland.

Questions about health in Magherafelt

How healthy is Magherafelt?

Magherafelt earns a C− for health, healthier than 21% of UK towns on measures adjusted for age, and 421st of 578 UK towns of its size. Life expectancy is 79.2 for men and 83.0 for women (NISRA, 2022 to 2024; Northern Ireland’s towns 78.3 and 82.2).

Where is the nearest A&E to Magherafelt?

Antrim Area Hospital in Antrim, about 17 mi from the town centre in a straight line. In 2025/26 it saw 33% of patients within four hours, against 43% across Northern Ireland. In an emergency call 999; when your GP practice is closed, call GP Out of Hours.

How long are hospital waiting lists for people in Magherafelt?

Magherafelt is served by the Northern Health and Social Care Trust. At the end of June 2026, 86,068 people were waiting for a first outpatient appointment with it, and 52% had waited more than a year (54% across Northern Ireland). 29% of its patients urgently referred with suspected cancer started treatment within 62 days in April to June 2026; the target is 95%.

Can I get a health service dentist in Magherafelt?

46% of residents in the areas around Magherafelt are registered with a health service dentist (50% across Northern Ireland), and 7 dental surgeries have an address in the town. Which surgeries are taking on new HSC patients isn’t published, so ask the surgery; nidirect explains how to find one.

How many GP practices are in Magherafelt?

4 practices have an address in Magherafelt, with 36,775 registered patients between them (July 2026). nidirect lists every practice and how to register.

Hospital and practice locations from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Sources: NISRA life expectancy by district electoral area, 2022 to 2024 · NISRA Census 2021 general health and disability by data zone, adjusted for age by TownRatings (observed ÷ expected at England and Wales rates) · Department of Health (Northern Ireland): emergency care waiting times by department (monthly to June 2026) and activity 2025/26; waiting times for outpatients, inpatients and day cases and diagnostics (June 2026); cancer waiting times (April to June 2026) · Department of Health, Health and Social Care Inequalities Monitoring System via the NISRA data portal (deaths 2020–24, admissions 2024/25, prescriptions 2024, child BMI 2024/25) · NISRA, Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 · HSC Business Services Organisation: dental registrations (2025/26); via Open Data NI: GP practice list sizes (July 2026), dental surgeries (June 2026), dispensing by contractor (August 2026) · 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.