Photo: Geographer · CC BY-SA 2.0Life expectancy in Swaffham is 79.1 for men and 81.3 for women
Across England the figures for 2019 to 2023 are 79.1 and 83.0. Swaffham grades C− for health: life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, early deaths, hospital admissions, child obesity and Census health, each adjusted for age; #48 of 51 in Norfolk.
What stands out about health in Swaffham
More of Swaffham’s children are obese
29% 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 97% of UK towns. Health Grade ↓
NHS dentists are harder to get than in most of England
Of adults in the Norfolk and Suffolk area who tried to get an NHS dental appointment in the last two years, 76% succeeded; across England it was 82%. Dentists ↓
A&E waits run longer than England’s, but fewer patients wait 12 hours for a bed
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the A&E at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, saw 57% of major-A&E patients within four hours in the 12 months to September 2026, against 61% across England: 70th of 117 trusts. 8.4% of patients admitted through its A&Es waited more than 12 hours from the decision to admit, against 13% in England. A&E ↓
Patients rate Swaffham’s GP practices above England’s
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 80% of patients at Swaffham’s 3 practices called their overall experience good, against 77% across England, and 61% found it easy to get through by phone (57% in England). That is ahead of 53% 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.
Swaffham grades C− for health
Healthier than 22% of UK towns, on age-adjusted measures.
Behind the typical UK town on every measure. Even its strongest, preventable deaths and Census bad health, are in the bottom 40% of UK towns; child obesity and emergency admissions are furthest behind. Among the 509 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000 people, Swaffham’s Health Grade is the 367th 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.
76% of adults in the Norfolk and Suffolk 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 Swaffham).
Across England 82% of those who tried got an appointment. Of Norfolk and Suffolk patients who did, 67% 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.
80% of patients rate Swaffham’s 3 GP practices good
GP Patient Survey 2026 (NHS England, run by Ipsos), about 100 patients a practice, against 77% across England. 152nd of 296 English towns of 6,000 to 11,000, from the highest.
| Practice | Overall experience | Easy by phone | Wait about right | CQC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plowright Medical Centre PE37 7HJ · 5,683 adult patients | 88% good · range 84%–91% | 90% | 80% | Good2017 |
| Campingland Surgery PE37 7RD · 6,169 adult patients | 79% good · range 73%–84% | 53% | 82% | Good2020 |
| Manor Farm Medical Centre PE37 7QN · 6,554 adult patients | 75% good · range 67%–81% | 42% | 66% | Good2024 |
Plowright Medical Centre has the town’s highest rating (88%). 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 Swaffham when its main surgery is inside the built-up area; branch surgeries are part of their main practice. CQC ratings © Care Quality Commission.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, saw 57% 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: the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust runs the A&E at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the nearest to Swaffham (13 mi).
The share seen within four hours rose from an average of 54% in April 2025 to September 2025 to 57% in the latest six months; England’s was 62%. Long waits for a bed are rarer than at 63% of trusts: 1,901 patients in 12 months, 8.4% of emergency admissions through A&E. CQC’s latest ratings for The Queen Elizabeth Hospital: urgent and emergency services requires improvement (2026), the hospital overall requires improvement (2026).
East of England trusts
Hospitals within 25 miles
| Distance | Hospital | CQC overall | Urgent & emergency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 mi | Swaffham Community Hospital Swaffham · East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust | Not rated | — |
| 11 mi | Dereham Hospital Dereham · East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust | Not rated | — |
| 13 mi | The Queen Elizabeth Hospital A&E Kings Lynn · The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2026 | Requires improvement2026 |
| 18 mi | Ogden Court Community Hospital Wymondham · East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust | Not rated | — |
| 22 mi | CPFT at North Cambridgeshire Hospital Wisbech · Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 22 mi | Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital A&E Norwich · Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2024 | Good2021 |
| 24 mi | CPFT at Princess of Wales Hospital Ely · Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 24 mi | Princess of Wales Hospital Ely · Cambridge University Hospitals 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 Swaffham is 0.7 years above 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.
25% of Swaffham’s residents are income-deprived, more than in most English towns. For that level, the line predicts 78.4 years for men; Swaffham’s is 79.1. For women it predicts 82.4, and Swaffham’s 81.3 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 Swaffham
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 Swaffham call their health good than across Norfolk
Census 2021, all residents, as answered (not adjusted for age).
Swaffham’s residents are older than Norfolk’s (33% are 65 or over, against 24%), which accounts for much of the difference. Adjusted for age, 98 report bad health for every 100 expected, close to the national rate.
Show as a table
| Census 2021 | Swaffham | Norfolk | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 75% | 79% | 82% |
| Fair health | 18% | 15% | 13% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.8% | 5.6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled under the Equality Act | 23% | 20% | 17% |
| Day-to-day activities limited a lot | 10% | 8.3% | 7.4% |
Norfolk and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
Swaffham’s Health Grade is 367th of 509 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000
Ordered by Health Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Swaffham, and others in Norfolk. 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+ |
| … | |||||
| 44 | Poringland Norfolk | 7,105 | 82.1 / 85.8 | 62 | A |
| … | |||||
| 91 | Hethersett Norfolk | 7,018 | 81.0 / 86.4 | 75 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 98 | Aylsham Norfolk | 7,183 | 82.7 / 86.0 | 66 | B+ |
| … | |||||
| 365 | Whitworth Lancashire | 6,713 | 78.8 / 83.5 | 98 | C− |
| 366 | Annesley Woodhouse Nottinghamshire | 6,162 | 79.3 / 82.9 | 118 | C− |
| 367 | Swaffham Norfolk | 8,434 | 79.1 / 81.3 | 103 | C− |
| 368 | Abergele Clwyd | 8,531 | — | — | C− |
| 369 | Shiremoor Tyne and Wear | 6,965 | 79.3 / 82.7 | 101 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 509 | 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 Swaffham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swaffham | 8,434 | 79.1 / 81.3 | 13 mi | C− |
| Necton | 1,742 | 79.9 / 84.2 | 16 mi | B− |
| Ashill | 1,252 | 81.3 / 83.3 | 18 mi | B− |
| Narborough | 1,362 | 81.2 / 83.0 | 7.7 mi | C+ |
| Saham Toney | 1,287 | 81.3 / 83.3 | 17 mi | B− |
| Marham | 2,608 | 80.6 / 84.6 | 7.9 mi | B |
| Watton | 11,549 | 78.3 / 84.3 | 16 mi | C |
| Shipdham | 2,459 | 81.3 / 83.3 | 14 mi | B− |
Ashill, 4.7 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 81.3, 2.2 years longer than Swaffham’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 the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, 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 Swaffham.
- 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 Swaffham
How healthy is Swaffham?
Swaffham earns a C− for health, healthier than 22% of UK towns on measures adjusted for age, and 367th of 509 UK towns of its size. Life expectancy is 79.1 for men and 81.3 for women (England 79.1 and 83.0), and there are 103 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected.
How long are A&E waits at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital?
NHS England publishes waits for the trust, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust. In the 12 months to September 2026 it saw 57% of major-A&E patients within four hours, against 61% across England; in September 2026 the figure was 58%. In an emergency call 999; for urgent advice call NHS 111.
Can I get an NHS dentist in Swaffham?
It is harder than in most of England. In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 76% of adults in the Norfolk and Suffolk 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 Swaffham do patients rate highest?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, Plowright Medical Centre (88% good overall), Campingland Surgery (79% good overall) and Manor Farm Medical Centre (75% good overall). Across all 3 Swaffham practices, 80% of patients rate their practice good, against 77% in England.
What is the life expectancy in Swaffham?
79.1 years for men and 81.3 for women, on OHID’s figures for 2019 to 2023. Men can expect 63.6 of those years and women 64.2 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.