Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Life expectancy in Wells runs ahead of the figure across England: 81.1 for men and 84.3 for women
For 2019 to 2023, England’s figures are 79.1 and 83.0. Wells grades B− for health: life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, early deaths, hospital admissions, child obesity and Census health, each adjusted for age; #24 of 49 in Somerset.
What stands out about health in Wells
Patients rate Wells’ GP practices above England’s
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 90% of patients at Wells’ 2 practices called their overall experience good, against 77% across England, and 76% found it easy to get through by phone (57% in England). That is ahead of 90% of English towns. GP practices ↓
NHS dentists are harder to get than in most of England
Of adults in the Somerset area who tried to get an NHS dental appointment in the last two years, 65% succeeded, 2nd lowest of England’s 36 health areas; across England it was 82%. Dentists ↓
More A&E patients are seen within four hours than across England
Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the A&E at Weston General Hospital, saw 65% of major-A&E patients within four hours in the 12 months to September 2026, against 61% across England: 29th of 117 trusts. 8.6% of patients admitted through its A&Es waited more than 12 hours from the decision to admit, against 13% in England. A&E ↓
Men live longer lives than Wells’ level of deprivation would suggest
18% of Wells’ residents are income-deprived. Across England’s towns that predicts men’s life expectancy of 80.1; Wells’ is 81.1. For its circumstances ↓
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.
Wells grades B− for health
Healthier than 54% of UK towns, on age-adjusted measures.
What holds the grade back: emergency admissions and deaths under 75 (better than 46% and 47% of UK towns). What lifts it: men’s life expectancy (63%) and Census bad health (61%). Among the 512 UK towns of 8,000 to 16,000 people, Wells’ Health Grade is the 147th 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.
90% of patients rate Wells’ 2 GP practices good
GP Patient Survey 2026 (NHS England, run by Ipsos), about 100 patients a practice, against 77% across England. 24th of 334 English towns of 8,000 to 16,000, from the highest.
| Practice | Overall experience | Easy by phone | Wait about right | CQC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wells City Practice BA5 1XJ · 7,070 adult patients | 91% good · range 80%–96% | 68% | 85% | Good2019 |
| Wells Health Centre Partnership BA5 1XJ · 10,024 adult patients | 90% good · range 76%–96% | 81% | 74% | Good2017 |
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 Wells when its main surgery is inside the built-up area; branch surgeries are part of their main practice. CQC ratings © Care Quality Commission.
65% of adults in the Somerset 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 Wells).
Somerset has the 2nd lowest of England’s 36 health areas; across England 82% of those who tried got an appointment. Of Somerset patients who did, 59% 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.
Bristol saw 65% 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: Bristol NHS Foundation Trust runs the A&E at Weston General Hospital, the nearest to Wells (16 mi).
The share seen within four hours has held near 67% over 18 months. Long waits for a bed are rarer than at 62% of trusts: 6,001 patients in 12 months, 8.6% of emergency admissions through A&E.
South West trusts
Hospitals within 25 miles
| Distance | Hospital | CQC overall | Urgent & emergency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 mi | South Bristol NHS Community Hospital Bristol · Bristol NHS Foundation Trust | Good2026 | — |
| 15 mi | Frome Birth Centre (Frome Community Hospital) Frome · Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust | Good2024 | — |
| 15 mi | Frome Community Hospital Frome · Somerset NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 15 mi | Bridgwater Community Hospital Bridgwater · Somerset NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 15 mi | Burnham on Sea War Memorial Hospital Burnham On Sea · Somerset NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 16 mi | Weston General Hospital A&E Weston-super-mare · Bristol NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | Not rated |
| 17 mi | Royal United Hospital Bath A&E Bath · Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2026 | Requires improvement2026 |
| 17 mi | Bristol Eye Hospital Assessment Clinic @ The Galleries Bristol · Bristol 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 Wells is 1.0 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.
18% of Wells’ residents are income-deprived, about the middle for English towns. For that level, the line predicts 80.1 years for men; Wells’ is 81.1. For women it predicts 83.8, and Wells’ 84.3 is 0.5 years above.
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 Wells
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.
81% of residents say their health is good or very good
Census 2021, all residents, as answered (not adjusted for age).
Wells’ residents are older than Somerset’s (30% are 65 or over, against 23%), which accounts for much of the difference. Adjusted for age, 75 report bad health for every 100 expected, fewer than the national rate.
Show as a table
| Census 2021 | Wells | Somerset | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 82% | 82% |
| Fair health | 14% | 13% | 13% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled under the Equality Act | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Day-to-day activities limited a lot | 7.5% | 7.3% | 7.4% |
Somerset and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
Wells’ Health Grade is 147th of 512 UK towns of 8,000 to 16,000
Ordered by Health Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Wells, and others in Somerset. Life expectancy for men / women; deaths under 75 per 100 expected.
| # | Town | People | Life expectancy | Deaths under 75 | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Esher Surrey | 9,484 | 83.1 / 85.9 | 59 | A+ |
| 2 | Twyford Berkshire | 8,072 | 83.5 / 86.7 | 62 | A+ |
| 3 | Radlett Hertfordshire | 8,182 | 83.2 / 87.4 | 65 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 62 | Nailsea Somerset | 15,919 | 81.1 / 85.0 | 72 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 135 | Midsomer Norton Somerset | 13,749 | 81.7 / 85.6 | 80 | B |
| … | |||||
| 145 | Honiton Devon | 12,155 | 81.0 / 85.1 | 81 | B− |
| 146 | Chertsey Surrey | 14,558 | 79.7 / 85.2 | 92 | B− |
| 147 | Wells Somerset | 12,097 | 81.1 / 84.3 | 83 | B− |
| 148 | Flitwick Bedfordshire | 13,668 | 80.6 / 83.4 | 91 | B− |
| 149 | Linlithgow West Lothian | 12,522 | 80.5 / 84.2 | — | B− |
| … | |||||
| 234 | Street Somerset | 12,707 | 81.2 / 82.9 | 88 | C+ |
| … | |||||
| 512 | 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 Wells
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wells | 12,097 | 81.1 / 84.3 | 16 mi | B− |
| Pilton | 1,104 | 83.0 / 86.2 | 15 mi | A+ |
| Shepton Mallet | 9,645 | 78.8 / 83.3 | 15 mi | C+ |
| Glastonbury | 8,304 | 79.2 / 82.5 | 15 mi | C |
| Draycott | 1,069 | 82.7 / 86.9 | 11 mi | A |
| Wedmore | 1,424 | 83.1 / 86.9 | 9.6 mi | A+ |
| Street | 12,707 | 81.2 / 82.9 | 13 mi | C+ |
| Chilcompton | 1,857 | 80.8 / 85.0 | 10 mi | B |
Shepton Mallet, 4.6 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 78.8, 2.3 years shorter than Wells’.
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 Bristol 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 Wells.
- 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 Wells
How healthy is Wells?
Wells earns a B− for health, healthier than 54% of UK towns on measures adjusted for age, and 147th of 512 UK towns of its size. Life expectancy is 81.1 for men and 84.3 for women (England 79.1 and 83.0), and there are 83 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected.
How long are A&E waits at Weston General Hospital?
NHS England publishes waits for the trust, Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. In the 12 months to September 2026 it saw 65% of major-A&E patients within four hours, against 61% across England; in September 2026 the figure was 68%. In an emergency call 999; for urgent advice call NHS 111.
Can I get an NHS dentist in Wells?
It is harder than in most of England. In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 65% of adults in the Somerset 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 Wells?
Wells has 2 GP practices with surgeries inside the town; 2 of the 2 rated by the Care Quality Commission are good or outstanding.
What is the life expectancy in Wells?
81.1 years for men and 84.3 for women, on OHID’s figures for 2019 to 2023. Men can expect 68.1 of those years and women 69.4 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.