Photo: Martin Richard Phelan · CC BY-SA 2.0Across Walsall, life expectancy spans 9 years from one area to another
Inside the town, men’s life expectancy runs from 73.1 in Walsall Central to 81.6 in Walsall South East, 1.4 miles apart. Life expectancy is 76.5 for men and 81.6 for women. For 2019 to 2023, England’s figures are 79.1 and 83.0. Walsall grades D for health: life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, early deaths, hospital admissions, child obesity and Census health, each adjusted for age; #24 of 35 in West Midlands.
What stands out about health in Walsall
A 9-year gap from one part of Walsall to another
Men in Walsall South East can expect to live to 81.6, longer than the English average of 79.1. In Walsall Central, 1.4 miles away, the figure is 73.1, and Walsall Central records 172 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected for its ages. For women the range is 79.4 in The Delves to 86.5 in Walsall East. Neighbourhoods ↓
More A&E patients are seen within four hours than across England
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the A&E at Manor Hospital, saw 69% of major-A&E patients within four hours in the 12 months to September 2026, against 61% across England: 20th of 117 trusts. 7.2% of patients admitted through its A&Es waited more than 12 hours from the decision to admit, against 13% in England. A&E ↓
More of Walsall’s children are obese
30% 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 99% of UK towns. Health Grade ↓
Patients rate Walsall’s GP practices below England’s
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 73% of patients at Walsall’s 13 practices called their overall experience good, against 77% across England, and 57% 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 Walsall’s level of deprivation would suggest
44% of Walsall’s residents are income-deprived. Across England’s towns that predicts men’s life expectancy of 74.2; Walsall’s is 76.5. 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.
Walsall grades D for health
Healthier than 10% 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 40% of UK towns; child obesity and emergency admissions are furthest behind. Among the 118 UK towns of 50,000 to 96,000 people, Walsall’s Health Grade is the 94th 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 Walsall runs from 73.1 to 81.6
Life expectancy at birth, 2019–23, in Walsall’s 9 middle-layer neighbourhoods (about 8,000 people each). Circles are sized by residents and show men’s life expectancy.
The gap follows deprivation closely: Palfrey, where 63% of residents are income-deprived, has men’s life expectancy of 76.4. Walsall Central has the most deaths under 75 for its ages (172 per 100 expected), against 73 in Walsall South East.
Show every measure as a table
| Neighbourhood | Men | Women | Deaths under 75 | Emergency admissions | Year 6 obese | Income-deprived |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walsall South East | 81.6 | 86.4 | 73 | 87 | 24% | 10% |
| Walsall East | 79.6 | 86.5 | 97 | 101 | 29% | 29% |
| Walsall North East | 78.0 | 82.1 | 121 | 122 | 30% | 36% |
| Palfrey | 76.4 | 80.5 | 133 | 133 | 34% | 63% |
| Walsall West | 75.8 | 79.6 | 133 | 163 | 30% | 53% |
| Leamore | 75.7 | 79.5 | 169 | 140 | 32% | 50% |
| The Delves | 75.4 | 79.4 | 143 | 133 | 28% | 42% |
| Pleck | 75.3 | 80.5 | 142 | 144 | 29% | 54% |
| Walsall Central | 73.1 | 81.0 | 172 | 142 | 31% | 51% |
Deaths and admissions per 100 expected for each area’s ages (England = 100). Each figure has a range: Walsall Central’s men’s life expectancy is 73.1 with a 95% range of 71.4 to 74.9. Neighbourhoods are ONS middle-layer areas at least 30% inside Walsall; names are the House of Commons Library’s.
Walsall Healthcare saw 69% 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: Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust runs the A&E at Manor Hospital, the nearest to Walsall (0.9 mi).
The share seen within four hours rose from an average of 67% in April 2025 to September 2025 to 73% in the latest six months; England’s was 62%. Long waits for a bed are rarer than at 67% of trusts: 3,704 patients in 12 months, 7.2% of emergency admissions through A&E. CQC’s latest ratings for Manor Hospital: urgent and emergency services requires improvement (2024), the hospital overall requires improvement (2026).
Midlands trusts
Hospitals within 25 miles
| Distance | Hospital | CQC overall | Urgent & emergency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.9 mi | Manor Hospital A&E Walsall · Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust | Requires improvement2026 | Requires improvement2024 |
| 5.1 mi | New Cross Hospital A&E Wolverhampton · The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust | Requires improvement2026 | Requires improvement2026 |
| 5.7 mi | Guest Hospital Dudley · The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | — |
| 6.2 mi | Midland Metropolitan University Hospital A&E Smethwick · Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust | Not rated | Good2026 |
| 7.1 mi | Good Hope Hospital A&E Sutton Coldfield · University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | Not rated | Requires improvement2025 |
| 7.4 mi | Birmingham Children's Hospital Birmingham · Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust | Good2026 | — |
| 7.4 mi | Rowley Regis Hospital Rowley Regis · Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust | Not rated | — |
| 7.9 mi | Russells Hall Hospital A&E Dudley · The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust | Requires improvement2023 | Requires improvement2023 |
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 Walsall is 2.3 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 Walsall’s residents are income-deprived, more than in most English towns. For that level, the line predicts 74.2 years for men; Walsall’s is 76.5. For women it predicts 78.9, and Walsall’s 81.6 is 2.7 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.
73% of patients rate Walsall’s 13 GP practices good
GP Patient Survey 2026 (NHS England, run by Ipsos), about 100 patients a practice, against 77% across England. 65th of 103 English towns of 50,000 to 96,000, from the highest.
| Practice | Overall experience | Easy by phone | Wait about right | CQC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brace Street Health Centre WS1 3PS · 2,491 adult patients | 91% good · range 87%–94% | 89% | 81% | Good2017 |
| Birchills Health Centre WS2 8QH · 5,230 adult patients | 89% good · range 79%–94% | 88% | 80% | Good2018 |
| Saddlers Health Centre WS1 1AF · 3,909 adult patients | 80% good · range 73%–85% | 62% | 65% | Good2016 |
| Little London Surgery WS1 3EP · 7,312 adult patients | 77% good · range 60%–88% | 52% | 60% | Good2026 |
| Umbrella Medical at Hatherton Medical Centre WS1 1AF · 17,593 adult patients | 76% good · range 45%–92% | 58% | 54% | Good2026 |
| Pleck Health Centre WS2 9HY · 6,323 adult patients | 73% good · range 58%–84% | 57% | 65% | Not rated |
| Umbrella Medical at Broadway Medical Centre WS1 3HD · 4,769 adult patients | 72% good · range 62%–80% | 51% | 47% | Good2019 |
| Palfrey Health Centre WS1 4JQ · 3,850 adult patients | 71% good · range 62%–79% | 51% | 56% | Good2024 |
| Dr Mahbub's Surgery WS1 3PS · 2,523 adult patients | 71% good · range 65%–76% | 56% | 51% | Inadequate2023 |
| Forrester Street Medical Centre WS2 9PL · 7,417 adult patients | 69% good · range 50%–84% | 44% | 67% | Good2021 |
| Brace Street Health Centre WS1 3PS · 2,496 adult patients | 69% good · range 64%–74% | 58% | 46% | Good2023 |
| Ambar Medical Centre WS1 4JQ · 1,926 adult patients | 64% good · range 56%–71% | 69% | 70% | Good2022 |
| St Peter's Surgery WS2 8DA · 7,331 adult patients | 55% good · range 38%–71% | 41% | 41% | Good2026 |
Brace Street Health Centre has the town’s highest rating (91%). Umbrella Medical at Hatherton Medical Centre is by far the largest, with 17,593 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 Walsall when its main surgery is inside the built-up area; branch surgeries are part of their main practice. CQC ratings © Care Quality Commission.
Care in and near Walsall
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.
86% of adults in the Black Country 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 Walsall).
Black Country has the 5th highest of England’s 36 health areas; across England 82% of those who tried got an appointment. Of Black Country patients who did, 77% 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, 139 report bad health for every 100 expected, more than the national rate.
Show as a table
| Census 2021 | Walsall | West Midlands | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 80% | 82% |
| Fair health | 14% | 14% | 13% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.2% | 6% | 5.2% |
| Disabled under the Equality Act | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Day-to-day activities limited a lot | 8% | 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.
Walsall’s Health Grade is 94th of 118 UK towns of 50,000 to 96,000
Ordered by Health Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Walsall, 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 | Wokingham Berkshire | 50,320 | 82.7 / 86.1 | 67 | A+ |
| 2 | St Albans Hertfordshire | 75,544 | 80.7 / 84.6 | 79 | A− |
| 3 | Horsham West Sussex | 50,211 | 81.5 / 84.8 | 77 | A− |
| … | |||||
| 10 | Royal Sutton Coldfield West Midlands | 93,392 | 81.5 / 84.5 | 83 | B |
| … | |||||
| 21 | Halesowen West Midlands | 60,103 | 80.0 / 83.9 | 98 | C |
| 22 | Stourbridge West Midlands | 56,961 | 79.1 / 83.7 | 97 | C |
| … | |||||
| 92 | Doncaster South Yorkshire | 87,440 | 76.1 / 80.6 | 134 | D |
| 93 | Halifax West Yorkshire | 88,111 | 76.3 / 81.1 | 132 | D |
| 94 | Walsall West Midlands | 70,777 | 76.5 / 81.6 | 132 | D |
| 95 | Livingston West Lothian | 55,798 | 76.8 / 80.9 | — | D |
| 96 | Margate Kent | 63,315 | 76.6 / 80.9 | 136 | D |
| … | |||||
| 118 | Bootle Merseyside | 53,722 | 74.2 / 78.3 | 173 | 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 Walsall
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walsall | 70,777 | 76.5 / 81.6 | 0.9 mi | D |
| Wednesbury | 20,321 | 74.6 / 80.1 | 1.8 mi | D− |
| Darlaston | 21,541 | 75.1 / 78.8 | 1.9 mi | D− |
| Rushall and Shelfield | 12,844 | 78.3 / 81.1 | 2.8 mi | D |
| Bloxwich | 51,891 | 75.5 / 78.8 | 2.3 mi | D− |
| Willenhall | 49,582 | 77.4 / 81.8 | 2 mi | D |
| West Bromwich | 103,099 | 76.0 / 81.1 | 3.3 mi | D |
| Aldridge | 15,827 | 79.0 / 84.9 | 3.7 mi | C+ |
Aldridge, 3.1 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 79.0, 2.5 years longer than Walsall’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 Walsall Healthcare NHS 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 Walsall.
- 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 Walsall
How healthy is Walsall?
Walsall earns a D for health, healthier than 10% of UK towns on measures adjusted for age, and 94th of 118 UK towns of its size. Life expectancy is 76.5 for men and 81.6 for women (England 79.1 and 83.0), and there are 132 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected.
Which parts of Walsall have the highest life expectancy?
For men, Walsall South East (81.6), Walsall East (79.6) and Walsall North East (78.0); the shortest is Walsall Central (73.1). For women, Walsall East is highest (86.5) and The Delves lowest (79.4). OHID figures for 2019 to 2023, by neighbourhood of about 8,000 people.
How long are A&E waits at Manor Hospital?
NHS England publishes waits for the trust, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust. In the 12 months to September 2026 it saw 69% of major-A&E patients within four hours, against 61% across England; in September 2026 the figure was 67%. In an emergency call 999; for urgent advice call NHS 111.
Can I get an NHS dentist in Walsall?
It is easier than in most of England. In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 86% of adults in the Black Country 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 Walsall do patients rate highest?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, Brace Street Health Centre (91% good overall), Birchills Health Centre (89% good overall) and Saddlers Health Centre (80% good overall). Across all 13 Walsall practices, 73% of patients rate their practice good, against 77% in England.
What is the life expectancy in Walsall?
76.5 years for men and 81.6 for women, on OHID’s figures for 2019 to 2023. Men can expect 59.8 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.