Photo: Gillie Rhodes · CC BY-SA 2.0Lives in Birmingham are shorter than across England: 76.0 for men and 81.2 for women
Across England the figures for 2019 to 2023 are 79.1 and 83.0. Inside the city, men’s life expectancy runs from 71.0 in Gravelly Hill & South Erdington to 77.5 in Bordesley, 2.9 miles apart. Birmingham grades D for health: life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, early deaths, hospital admissions, child obesity and Census health, each adjusted for age; #28 of 35 in West Midlands.
What stands out about health in Birmingham
A 7-year gap from one part of Birmingham to another
Men in Bordesley can expect to live to 77.5. In Gravelly Hill & South Erdington, 2.9 miles away, the figure is 71.0, and Gravelly Hill & South Erdington records 207 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected for its ages. For women the range is 78.2 in Gravelly Hill & South Erdington to 81.5 in Bordesley. Neighbourhoods ↓
More of Birmingham’s 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 93% of UK towns. Health Grade ↓
Patients rate Birmingham’s GP practices below England’s
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 73% of patients at Birmingham’s 161 practices called their overall experience good, against 77% across England, and 53% found it easy to get through by phone (57% in England). That is behind 75% of English towns. GP practices ↓
Men live longer lives than Birmingham’s level of deprivation would suggest
44% of Birmingham’s residents are income-deprived. Across England’s towns that predicts men’s life expectancy of 74.4; Birmingham’s is 76.0. 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.
Birmingham grades D for health
Healthier than 8% of UK towns, on age-adjusted measures.
Behind the typical UK town on every measure. Even its strongest, disability and women’s life expectancy, are in the bottom 25% of UK towns; emergency admissions and women’s years in good health are furthest behind. Among the 9 UK towns of 402,000 to 2,957,000 people, Birmingham’s Health Grade is the 6th 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.
Men’s life expectancy across Birmingham runs from 71.0 to 77.5
Life expectancy at birth, 2019–23, in Birmingham’s 11 middle-layer neighbourhoods (about 8,000 people each). Circles are sized by residents and show men’s life expectancy.
The gap follows deprivation less closely inside Birmingham than across England. Saltley East, where 66% of residents are income-deprived, has men’s life expectancy of 76.2, among the city’s longest; Gravelly Hill & South Erdington, with 51%, has the shortest. Gravelly Hill & South Erdington has the most deaths under 75 for its ages (207 per 100 expected), against 130 in Bordesley.
Show every measure as a table
| Neighbourhood | Men | Women | Deaths under 75 | Emergency admissions | Year 6 obese | Income-deprived |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bordesley | 77.5 | 81.5 | 130 | 164 | 31% | 65% |
| Birches Green & Bromford East | 77.4 | 80.5 | 129 | — | 28% | 47% |
| Saltley East | 76.2 | 80.9 | 134 | 171 | 32% | 66% |
| Yardley Fields | 75.1 | 78.7 | 151 | 170 | 29% | 63% |
| Ward End & Bromford West | 74.4 | 79.3 | 132 | 165 | 31% | 57% |
| Handsworth South | 74.4 | 80.3 | 160 | 126 | 34% | 61% |
| Acocks Green East | 74.0 | 79.4 | 158 | 149 | 24% | 37% |
| Winson Green & Gib Heath | 72.9 | 80.8 | 164 | 125 | 29% | 62% |
| Selly Oak | 72.2 | 80.2 | 77 | 52 | 23% | 8.2% |
| North Central & Dartmouth Circus | 71.3 | 78.3 | 168 | 93 | 28% | 33% |
| Gravelly Hill & South Erdington | 71.0 | 78.2 | 207 | 167 | 29% | 51% |
Deaths and admissions per 100 expected for each area’s ages (England = 100). Each figure has a range: Gravelly Hill & South Erdington’s men’s life expectancy is 71.0 with a 95% range of 69.4 to 72.5. Neighbourhoods are ONS middle-layer areas at least 30% inside Birmingham; names are the House of Commons Library’s.
73% of patients rate Birmingham’s 161 GP practices good
GP Patient Survey 2026 (NHS England, run by Ipsos), about 100 patients a practice, against 77% across England. 6th of 7 English towns of 402,000 to 2,957,000, from the highest.
| Practice | Overall experience | Easy by phone | Wait about right | CQC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summerfield Primary Care Centre B18 7AL · 1,192 adult patients | 97% good · range 96%–98% | 91% | 97% | Good2019 |
| The Sheldon Practice B26 3TT · 1,747 adult patients | 97% good · range 96%–97% | 100% | 99% | Good2017 |
| Cotmore Surgery B44 8TU · 2,699 adult patients | 96% good · range 94%–97% | 88% | 91% | Good2019 |
| OHP-Handsworth Medical Practice B21 9NH · 4,474 adult patients | 95% good · range 87%–98% | 88% | 89% | Good2021 |
| Sherwood House Medical Practice B17 8DP · 10,431 adult patients | 94% good · range 82%–98% | 65% | 88% | Good2017 |
| Greenridge Healthcare Ltd B14 7AG · 6,326 adult patients | 94% good · range 88%–97% | 71% | 87% | Good2016 |
| OHP - Kingsbury Road Surgery B24 8RD · 3,286 adult patients | 93% good · range 90%–95% | 84% | 89% | Outstanding2019 |
| Cofton Medical Centre B31 4TU · 8,225 adult patients | 93% good · range 83%–97% | 70% | 75% | Good2019 |
| Dr Asad Zaman B35 7QX · 3,655 adult patients | 92% good · range 89%–94% | 59% | 71% | Good2017 |
| Kingstanding Circle Surgery B44 0UY · 5,049 adult patients | 91% good · range 85%–95% | 78% | 84% | Good2020 |
| Woodland Road Surgery B31 2HZ · 4,809 adult patients | 90% good · range 86%–93% | 89% | 84% | Good2017 |
| OHP - College Green Medical Practice B31 2GH · 15,763 adult patients | 89% good · range 74%–96% | 79% | 73% | Good2025 |
| Charles Road Surgery B10 9AB · 4,214 adult patients | 89% good · range 84%–93% | 69% | 84% | Good2019 |
| OHP-Yardley Wood Health Centre B14 4DU · 8,325 adult patients | 89% good · range 78%–95% | 75% | 85% | Good2024 |
| Dr Manoj Prasad B44 9HW · 1,684 adult patients | 89% good · range 85%–91% | 82% | 80% | Good2016 |
| Rotton Park Medical Centre B16 0LU · 4,321 adult patients | 88% good · range 80%–93% | 72% | 74% | Outstanding2017 |
| Druids Heath Surgery B14 5SB · 7,959 adult patients | 88% good · range 80%–93% | 66% | 77% | Good2016 |
| Cornhill Surgery B45 9JT · 4,642 adult patients | 88% good · range 83%–91% | 86% | 78% | Good2026 |
| Selly Park Surgery B29 7NT · 4,126 adult patients | 87% good · range 81%–92% | 89% | 90% | Good2016 |
| LPS - Poplars Surgery B24 9JN · 11,436 adult patients | 87% good · range 70%–95% | 59% | 85% | Good2016 |
| Highgate Medical Centre B12 0YA · 3,948 adult patients | 87% good · range 82%–90% | 63% | 71% | Good2019 |
| OHP-Greenridge Surgery B13 0HN · 8,071 adult patients | 87% good · range 72%–94% | 62% | 73% | Good2024 |
| Coventry Road Practice B26 3JS · 3,978 adult patients | 87% good · range 83%–90% | 90% | 68% | Good2024 |
| OHP-The Nechells Practice B7 5DT · 5,343 adult patients | 86% good · range 80%–91% | 55% | 71% | Outstanding2019 |
| The Kings Norton Surgery B38 8QS · 12,478 adult patients | 86% good · range 70%–94% | 63% | 79% | Good2019 |
| Dr Deedar Singh Bhomra B44 0DX · 2,204 adult patients | 86% good · range 83%–88% | 77% | 81% | Good2022 |
| OHP - Bloomsbury Medical Centre B7 5BT · 1,972 adult patients | 86% good · range 82%–88% | 75% | 78% | Good2021 |
| LPS - The Surgery B8 3RZ · 1,875 adult patients | 85% good · range 80%–90% | 88% | 95% | Good2018 |
| OHP-The Oaks Medical Centre B44 9ER · 12,425 adult patients | 85% good · range 72%–93% | 55% | 94% | Good2022 |
| Kingsfield Medical Centre B14 6AA · 7,576 adult patients | 85% good · range 75%–92% | 57% | 59% | Good2017 |
The 30 highest-rated of 161 practices shown.
Summerfield Primary Care Centre has the city’s highest rating (97%). Midlands Medical Partnership is by far the largest, with 45,816 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 Birmingham 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 Birmingham is 1.6 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.
44% of Birmingham’s residents are income-deprived, more than in most English towns. For that level, the line predicts 74.4 years for men; Birmingham’s is 76.0. For women it predicts 79.0, and Birmingham’s 81.2 is 2.2 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 Birmingham
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.
University Hospitals Birmingham saw 59% 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: University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust runs the A&E at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, the nearest to Birmingham (2.3 mi).
The share seen within four hours has held near 59% over 18 months. Long waits for a bed are commoner than at 71% of trusts: 24,063 patients in 12 months, 19% of emergency admissions through A&E. CQC’s latest ratings for Birmingham Heartlands Hospital: urgent and emergency services requires improvement (2025).
Midlands trusts
Hospitals within 25 miles
| Distance | Hospital | CQC overall | Urgent & emergency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 mi | Birmingham Children's Hospital Birmingham · Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust | Good2026 | — |
| 2.3 mi | Birmingham Heartlands Hospital A&E Birmingham · University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | Requires improvement2025 |
| 2.8 mi | Birmingham Women's Hospital Birmingham · Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust | Good2023 | — |
| 2.8 mi | Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham A&E Birmingham · University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2025 | Requires improvement2025 |
| 3.2 mi | Midland Metropolitan University Hospital A&E Smethwick · Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust | Not rated | Good2026 |
| 4.8 mi | The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital Birmingham · The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Good2026 | — |
| 5.8 mi | Solihull Hospital Solihull · University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 7.2 mi | Rowley Regis Hospital Rowley Regis · Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS 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.
85% of adults in the Birmingham and Solihull 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 Birmingham).
Across England 82% of those who tried got an appointment. Of Birmingham and Solihull patients who did, 76% 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 residents say their health is good or very good
Census 2021, all residents, as answered (not adjusted for age).
Adjusted for age, 143 report bad health for every 100 expected, more than the national rate.
Show as a table
| Census 2021 | Birmingham | West Midlands | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 80% | 82% |
| Fair health | 13% | 14% | 13% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.2% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled under the Equality Act | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Day-to-day activities limited a lot | 8.3% | 8.1% | 7.4% |
West Midlands and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
Birmingham’s Health Grade is 6th of 9 UK towns of 402,000 to 2,957,000
Ordered by Health Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Birmingham, and others in West Midlands. Life expectancy for men / women; deaths under 75 per 100 expected.
| # | Town | People | Life expectancy | Deaths under 75 | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edinburgh City of Edinburgh | 493,794 | 78.3 / 82.5 | — | C |
| 2 | Bristol Bristol | 425,196 | 78.3 / 82.9 | 108 | C− |
| 3 | Sheffield South Yorkshire | 500,520 | 77.7 / 81.7 | 117 | C− |
| 4 | Leeds West Yorkshire | 536,262 | 76.6 / 80.7 | 132 | C− |
| 5 | Leicester Leicestershire | 406,612 | 76.8 / 81.2 | 127 | C− |
| 6 | Birmingham West Midlands | 1,121,367 | 76.0 / 81.2 | 136 | D |
| 7 | Manchester Greater Manchester | 470,395 | 75.0 / 79.7 | 149 | D |
| 8 | Liverpool Merseyside | 506,564 | 75.7 / 79.6 | 148 | D− |
| 9 | Glasgow Glasgow City | 617,904 | 74.0 / 78.7 | — | 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 Birmingham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | 1,121,367 | 76.0 / 81.2 | 2.3 mi | D |
| Smethwick | 56,343 | 75.2 / 80.3 | 0.9 mi | D |
| Solihull | 107,754 | 81.0 / 84.7 | 4.2 mi | B |
| Oldbury | 45,188 | 77.5 / 82.5 | 2.5 mi | D |
| Hollywood | 6,944 | 80.5 / 84.9 | 5 mi | B |
| Pheasey | 9,498 | 80.8 / 85.3 | 4.1 mi | B− |
| Dickens Heath | 4,797 | 82.3 / 85.9 | 6.4 mi | A |
| West Bromwich | 103,099 | 76.0 / 81.1 | 3.3 mi | D |
Dickens Heath, 6.2 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 82.3, 6.3 years longer than Birmingham’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 University Hospitals Birmingham 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 Birmingham.
- 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 Birmingham
How healthy is Birmingham?
Birmingham earns a D for health, healthier than 8% of UK towns on measures adjusted for age, and 6th of 9 UK towns of its size. Life expectancy is 76.0 for men and 81.2 for women (England 79.1 and 83.0), and there are 136 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected.
Which parts of Birmingham have the highest life expectancy?
For men, Bordesley (77.5), Birches Green & Bromford East (77.4) and Saltley East (76.2); the shortest is Gravelly Hill & South Erdington (71.0). For women, Bordesley is highest (81.5) and Gravelly Hill & South Erdington lowest (78.2). OHID figures for 2019 to 2023, by neighbourhood of about 8,000 people.
How long are A&E waits at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital?
NHS England publishes waits for the trust, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. In the 12 months to September 2026 it saw 59% of major-A&E patients within four hours, against 61% across England; in September 2026 the figure was 57%. In an emergency call 999; for urgent advice call NHS 111.
Can I get an NHS dentist in Birmingham?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 85% of adults in the Birmingham and Solihull 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 Birmingham do patients rate highest?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, Summerfield Primary Care Centre (97% good overall), The Sheldon Practice (97% good overall) and Cotmore Surgery (96% good overall). Across all 161 Birmingham practices, 73% of patients rate their practice good, against 77% in England.
What is the life expectancy in Birmingham?
76.0 years for men and 81.2 for women, on OHID’s figures for 2019 to 2023. Men can expect 59.4 of those years and women 60.1 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.