Photo: Thomas Nugent · CC BY-SA 2.0Life expectancy in Polbeth is lower than in 91% of UK towns: 76.5 for men and 78.5 for women
Measured over 2020 to 2024 in the intermediate zones around Polbeth, they compare with 76.6 and 80.9 across Scotland’s towns. Polbeth grades D− for health: life expectancy, and Census bad health and disability adjusted for age; 250th of 296 Scottish towns; #10 of 13 in West Lothian.
What stands out about health in Polbeth
The nearest A&E sees more patients within four hours than Scotland’s
St John's Hospital saw 67% of patients within four hours in the 12 months to August 2026, against 63% across Scotland’s full emergency departments. The standard is 95%. A&E ↓
More early deaths than across Scotland
In 2022 to 2024, the areas around Polbeth recorded 533 deaths under 75 per 100,000 people, against 435 across Scotland, standardised for age. Against Scotland ↓
Men live longer lives than Polbeth’s incomes would predict
Across Scotland’s towns, 17% income deprivation corresponds to men’s life expectancy of 74.9 years. Polbeth records 76.5. This is context, not a measure of care quality. For its circumstances ↓
Written from Public Health Scotland, NHS Scotland and SIMD figures on this page. Life expectancy covers 2020 to 2024; neighbourhoods are 2011 intermediate zones.
Polbeth grades D− for health
Healthier than 3% of UK towns, on age-adjusted measures.
Behind the typical UK town on every measure. Even its strongest, men’s life expectancy and Census bad health, are in the bottom 10% of UK towns; disability and women’s life expectancy 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; 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.
Scottish towns’ Health Grades use Public Health Scotland’s life expectancy for 2020 to 2024 in the small areas that make up the town, and two Census 2022 measures, bad health and disability, adjusted for age to the same standard as England and Wales. Healthy life expectancy isn’t published for Scotland’s small areas, and its early-death and hospital figures are rates on Scotland’s own standard rather than England’s, so the page compares those with Scotland without grading them.
St John's Hospital saw 67% of patients within four hours
The nearest full emergency department in Scotland to Polbeth, 2.4 mi away. Last 12 months: September 2025 to August 2026.
Nearest emergency care
| Nearest emergency care | Distance | Within 4 hours, last 12 months |
|---|---|---|
| St John's Hospital ↗ Emergency department · NHS Lothian | 2.4 mi | 67% |
| Western General Hospital ↗ Minor injury unit / other emergency care · NHS Lothian | 14 mi | 65% |
| Queen Margaret Hospital ↗ Minor injury unit / other emergency care · NHS Fife | 16 mi | 100% |
| Forth Valley Royal Hospital ↗ Emergency department · NHS Forth Valley | 16 mi | 47% |
| University Hospital Wishaw ↗ Emergency department · NHS Lanarkshire | 16 mi | 56% |
| Royal Hospital for Children and Young People (Edinburgh) ↗ Children’s emergency department · NHS Lothian | 17 mi | 90% |
The four-hour standard is 95% from arrival to admission, transfer or discharge. Scotland’s comparison pools all full emergency departments, including children’s departments. Minor injury units and other emergency care sites treat a different mix of patients; they are shown separately. A dash means a complete matching 12 months is unavailable. Check opening hours before travelling.
Public Health Scotland, monthly A&E activity, published 6 October 2026, through August 2026. Counts include planned and unplanned attendances, using the published All category once. Site types: NHS Scotland A&E site list, 9 September 2025. Distances are straight lines from the town centre to postcode locations; journeys can be much longer, especially across water.
Polbeth does worse than Scotland on these measures
Public Health Scotland’s figures for the small areas that make up Polbeth. Life expectancy beside Scotland’s towns (2020 to 2024); early deaths and emergency hospitalisations, age-standardised, beside Scotland (2022 to 2024).
Life expectancy, men years
Life expectancy, women years
Deaths under 75 per 100,000
Emergency hospitalisations per 100,000
Life expectancy, women, deaths under 75 and emergency hospitalisations are worse than Scotland’s.
Men’s life expectancy in Polbeth is 1.6 years above the Scottish income-deprivation line
Each dot is a Scottish town. Across 295 towns, income deprivation and men’s life expectancy have a correlation of −0.83.
For 17% income deprivation, the Scottish line predicts 74.9 years for men; Polbeth records 76.5. A difference from this line does not establish the cause or measure healthcare quality.
Health indicators behind SIMD 2020
| Measure | Town’s areas | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths, all ages | 97.6 | 2014–17 |
| Emergency hospital stays | 115.1 | 2014/15–2017/18 |
| Anxiety, depression or psychosis prescriptions | 22% | 2017/18 |
Scottish Government, SIMD 2020v2, 2011 data zones shared to the town by Census 2022 residents. The health-deprived fifth means health-domain deciles 1–2; it is a share of residents, not an averaged rank. The older deaths and emergency-stay indicators are age-sex-standardised ratios (Scotland = 100), averaged by residents; prescriptions are a percentage. Income deprivation uses published deprived counts and population denominators. Life expectancy: ScotPHO, 2020–24. These are context only; no new measure feeds the Health Grade.
Care in and near Polbeth
For urgent advice during opening hours, contact your GP practice. In an emergency, call 999.
Fewer people in Polbeth call their health good than across West Lothian
Census 2022, all residents, as answered (not adjusted for age).
Adjusted for age, 174 report bad health for every 100 expected, more than the national rate.
Show as a table
| Census 2022 | Polbeth | West Lothian | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 74% | 79% | 78% |
| Fair health | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.3% | 7% | 7.2% |
| Day-to-day activities limited by a health problem or disability | 27% | 24% | 24% |
| Day-to-day activities limited a lot | 13% | 11% | 11% |
West Lothian and Scotland: all residents of their towns and cities, from the same Census 2022 output areas.
How Polbeth compares with Scottish towns of 2,000 to 4,000
Ordered by Health Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Polbeth, and others in West Lothian. Life expectancy for men / women, 2020–24.
| # | Town | People | Life expectancy | Health | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blackburn Aberdeenshire | 2,985 | — | A | |
| 2 | Dollar Clackmannanshire | 2,853 | 83.2 / 86.6 | A | |
| 3 | Aboyne Aberdeenshire | 2,931 | 82.3 / 85.9 | A | |
| … | |||||
| 14 | Mid Calder West Lothian | 3,217 | 80.1 / 85.1 | B | |
| … | |||||
| 61 | West Calder West Lothian | 3,405 | 77.2 / 78.6 | D | |
| … | |||||
| 73 | Harthill North Lanarkshire | 2,613 | 77.0 / 79.8 | D− | |
| 74 | Cleland North Lanarkshire | 3,043 | 74.9 / 80.4 | D− | |
| 75 | Polbeth West Lothian | 2,595 | 76.5 / 78.5 | D− | |
| 76 | Clackmannan Clackmannanshire | 3,282 | 73.0 / 78.9 | D− | |
| 77 | Burnfoot Scottish Borders | 2,797 | 76.5 / 76.1 | D− | |
| … | |||||
| 83 | Auchinleck East Ayrshire | 3,682 | 71.7 / 77.0 | D− | |
These are Scottish towns of a similar size, ordered by Health Grade (graded against every UK town). Life expectancy: Public Health Scotland, 2020–24. Early deaths and hospitalisations use Scottish rates in Against Scotland; they do not feed the grade.
Health in the places around Polbeth
Life expectancy for men / women. Tap a town for its health page.
| Town | People | Life expectancy | Health |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polbeth | 2,595 | 76.5 / 78.5 | D− |
| West Calder | 3,405 | 77.2 / 78.6 | D |
| Livingston | 55,798 | 76.8 / 80.9 | D |
| Blackburn | 5,263 | 74.4 / 77.3 | D− |
| Mid Calder | 3,217 | 80.1 / 85.1 | B |
| Bathgate | 22,229 | 78.6 / 82.4 | C− |
| East Calder | 7,249 | 80.6 / 83.2 | C+ |
| Whitburn | 11,772 | 75.3 / 79.6 | D− |
East Calder, 4.4 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 80.6, 4.1 years longer than Polbeth’s.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Small areas, summed to the town. Life expectancy is published for 2011 intermediate zones of about 4,000 people, weighted here by the Census 2022 residents living in the town. Small towns share a zone’s figure with countryside around them.
- Rates, not ratios. ScotPHO early deaths and emergency hospitalisations are age-standardised rates per 100,000, compared with Scotland. They are not England’s per-100-expected ratios. The older SIMD indicators have their own periods and definitions.
- Different years. Life expectancy covers 2020–24; early deaths and emergency hospitalisations 2022–24. Scotland’s Census was on 20 March 2022, a year after England and Wales’s lockdown census. SIMD 2020v2 uses older indicators, with periods shown beside them.
- A&E periods and types. Twelve-month figures pool attendance counts over the same complete months. The trend shows 36 calendar months and breaks across missing months. Scotland’s comparison contains full emergency departments, including children’s departments; minor injury units are separate. The 95% standard applies to all A&E sites.
- Practices and registrations. The main practice postcode assigns a GP or dentist to its Census locality; branch surgeries are not separately counted. Patients can live outside the town. Scotland has no equivalent of England’s GP Patient Survey in these sources, so GP patient ratings are not shown. New NHS dental patient availability is not published here.
- Distances are straight lines. This list covers NHS Scotland services; an English hospital may be closer near the border. Postcode centroids locate services; where needed, NRS output-area centroids are used. Road journeys are longer and straight lines can cross water. Check the service and its opening hours. For urgent advice contact your GP, or NHS 24 on 111 when it is closed; in an emergency call 999.
- What feeds the Health Grade. Only the existing ScotPHO life expectancy and Census bad-health and disability measures feed the Health Grade. Care, deprivation, early deaths and hospitalisations are described here and compared within Scotland.
Questions about health in Polbeth
How healthy is Polbeth?
Polbeth earns a D− for health. Life expectancy is 76.5 for men and 78.5 for women (Public Health Scotland, 2020 to 2024), against 76.6 and 80.9 across Scotland’s towns.
Where is the nearest full A&E in Scotland to Polbeth?
St John's Hospital, about 2.4 mi from the town centre in a straight line. It saw 67% of patients within four hours in the 12 months to August 2026; the standard is 95%. In an emergency call 999; for urgent advice when your GP is closed, phone NHS 24 on 111.
Sources: Public Health Scotland, ScotPHO profiles (life expectancy 2020–24; early deaths and emergency hospitalisations 2022–24); NHS Scotland A&E sites (9 September 2025), monthly A&E activity through August 2026 (published 6 October 2026), GP practices and list sizes (1 July 2026), dental practices and registrations (31 March 2026); Scottish Government SIMD 2020v2 domain deciles, income counts and health indicators; NRS Census 2022 output areas, localities and postcode lookup; ONS Postcode Directory. Census age-standardised ratios use the unchanged England and Wales 2021 standard. Grades: TownRatings’s existing summary, ranked against UK towns. Open Government Licence v3.0; contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 and Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026.
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.