Photo: Michael Garlick · CC BY-SA 2.0Across Worcester, life expectancy spans 9 years from one area to another
Inside the city, men’s life expectancy runs from 74.1 in Warndon West to 82.8 in Henwick, 2.4 miles apart. Life expectancy is 78.8 for men and 83.2 for women. England as a whole stood at 79.1 and 83.0 over 2019 to 2023. Worcester grades C for health: life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, early deaths, hospital admissions, child obesity and Census health, each adjusted for age; #19 of 22 in Worcestershire.
What stands out about health in Worcester
A 9-year gap from one part of Worcester to another
Men in Henwick can expect to live to 82.8, longer than the English average of 79.1. In Warndon West, 2.4 miles away, the figure is 74.1, and Warndon West records 180 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected for its ages. For women the range is 78.9 in Warndon West to 87.8 in St Peters. Neighbourhoods ↓
A&E waits run longer than England’s
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the A&E at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, saw 53% of major-A&E patients within four hours in the 12 months to September 2026, against 61% across England: 88th of 117 trusts. 32% of patients admitted through its A&Es waited more than 12 hours from the decision to admit, against 13% in England. A&E ↓
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.
Worcester grades C for health
Healthier than 33% of UK towns, on age-adjusted measures.
Behind the typical UK town on every measure. Even its strongest, emergency admissions and disability, are in the bottom 50% of UK towns; deaths under 75 and preventable deaths are furthest behind. Among the 75 UK towns of 74,000 to 142,000 people, Worcester’s Health Grade is the 20th 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 Worcester runs from 74.1 to 82.8
Life expectancy at birth, 2019–23, in Worcester’s 14 middle-layer neighbourhoods (about 8,000 people each). Circles are sized by residents and show men’s life expectancy.
The gap follows deprivation closely: Warndon West, where 53% of residents are income-deprived, has men’s life expectancy of 74.1. Warndon West has the most deaths under 75 for its ages (180 per 100 expected), against 92 in Henwick.
Show every measure as a table
| Neighbourhood | Men | Women | Deaths under 75 | Emergency admissions | Year 6 obese | Income-deprived |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henwick | 82.8 | 82.5 | 92 | 72 | 20% | 9.1% |
| St Peters | 82.3 | 87.8 | 60 | 72 | 14% | 8.3% |
| Lower Wick & Bromwich Road | 81.0 | 84.1 | 81 | 79 | 20% | 14% |
| Northwick | 80.7 | 84.5 | 74 | 77 | 15% | 9.4% |
| Warndon East | 80.3 | 87.5 | 76 | 76 | 22% | 10% |
| Battenhall & Diglis | 79.9 | 84.1 | 74 | 77 | 18% | 15% |
| Dines Green & St Johns | 79.1 | 83.1 | 112 | 93 | 21% | 27% |
| Barbourne & Rainbow Hill | 77.8 | 83.6 | 94 | 88 | 26% | 17% |
| Lyppard Grange | 77.7 | 80.6 | 98 | 91 | 21% | 13% |
| Worcester Town South | 77.7 | 82.8 | 115 | 87 | 24% | 25% |
| Worcester Town North | 76.9 | 82.6 | 126 | 86 | 18% | 21% |
| Ronkswood & Nunnery Wood | 76.2 | 82.5 | 100 | 101 | 27% | 30% |
| King George's Field | 75.7 | 80.8 | 140 | 114 | 31% | 42% |
| Warndon West | 74.1 | 78.9 | 180 | 121 | 31% | 53% |
Deaths and admissions per 100 expected for each area’s ages (England = 100). Each figure has a range: Warndon West’s men’s life expectancy is 74.1 with a 95% range of 71.7 to 76.5. Neighbourhoods are ONS middle-layer areas at least 30% inside Worcester; names are the House of Commons Library’s.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals saw 53% 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: Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust runs the A&E at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, the nearest to Worcester (1.5 mi).
The share seen within four hours rose from an average of 49% in April 2025 to September 2025 to 55% in the latest six months; England’s was 62%. Long waits for a bed are commoner than at 89% of trusts: 12,341 patients in 12 months, 32% of emergency admissions through A&E. CQC’s latest ratings for Worcestershire Royal Hospital: urgent and emergency services requires improvement (2024), the hospital overall requires improvement (2025).
Midlands trusts
Hospitals within 25 miles
| Distance | Hospital | CQC overall | Urgent & emergency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 mi | Worcestershire Royal Hospital A&E Worcester · Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust | Requires improvement2025 | Requires improvement2024 |
| 6.7 mi | Malvern Community Hospital Malvern · Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust | Not rated | — |
| 8.1 mi | Pershore Community Hospital Pershore · Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust | Not rated | — |
| 12 mi | Bromyard Community Hospital Bromyard · Wye Valley NHS Trust | Not rated | — |
| 12 mi | Princess of Wales Community Hospital Bromsgrove · Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust | Not rated | — |
| 13 mi | Kidderminster Hospital and Treatment Centre Kidderminster · Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust | Good2025 | — |
| 14 mi | Evesham Community Hospital Evesham · Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust | Not rated | — |
| 14 mi | Evesham Community Hospital Evesham · Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust | Requires improvement2019 | — |
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 Worcester is 0.5 years below 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.
21% of Worcester’s residents are income-deprived, more than in most English towns. For that level, the line predicts 79.3 years for men; Worcester’s is 78.8. For women it predicts 83.2, and Worcester’s 83.2 is close to it.
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 Worcester
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.
76% of patients rate Worcester’s 9 GP practices good
GP Patient Survey 2026 (NHS England, run by Ipsos), about 100 patients a practice, against 77% across England. 36th of 71 English towns of 74,000 to 142,000, from the highest.
| Practice | Overall experience | Easy by phone | Wait about right | CQC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Gardens Group Medical Practice WR1 2BS · 16,845 adult patients | 86% good · range 57%–97% | 77% | 91% | Good2026 |
| Barbourne Health Centre WR3 7LH · 9,247 adult patients | 81% good · range 69%–89% | 56% | 75% | Good2024 |
| Severn Valley Medical Practice WR2 5HL · 18,029 adult patients | 77% good · range 51%–92% | 38% | 72% | Requires improvement2025 |
| St Martin's Gate Surgery WR5 1EZ · 11,431 adult patients | 77% good · range 59%–89% | 77% | 60% | Good2025 |
| Haresfield House Surgery WR5 1HG · 14,711 adult patients | 76% good · range 53%–90% | 60% | 67% | Good2019 |
| Albany House Surgery WR1 3DU · 5,780 adult patients | 76% good · range 69%–81% | 46% | 72% | Good2026 |
| Thorneloe Lodge Surgery WR1 1RU · 9,917 adult patients | 71% good · range 58%–81% | 63% | 74% | Good2026 |
| St Johns House Medical Centre WR2 5FB · 11,202 adult patients | 68% good · range 51%–81% | 48% | 62% | Requires improvement2025 |
| Elbury Moor Medical Centre WR4 9TX · 9,722 adult patients | 68% good · range 50%–82% | 63% | 82% | Good2021 |
Spring Gardens Group Medical Practice has the city’s highest rating (86%). 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 Worcester when its main surgery is inside the built-up area; branch surgeries are part of their main practice. CQC ratings © Care Quality Commission.
83% of adults in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire 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 Worcester).
Across England 82% of those who tried got an appointment. Of Herefordshire and Worcestershire patients who did, 75% 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.
83% of residents say their health is good or very good
Census 2021, all residents, as answered (not adjusted for age).
Worcester’s residents are younger than Worcestershire’s (17% are 65 or over, against 22%), which accounts for much of the difference. Adjusted for age, 94 report bad health for every 100 expected, fewer than the national rate.
Show as a table
| Census 2021 | Worcester | Worcestershire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 82% | 82% |
| Fair health | 13% | 13% | 13% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.8% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled under the Equality Act | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Day-to-day activities limited a lot | 6.7% | 7.3% | 7.4% |
Worcestershire and England: all residents of their built-up areas (towns and cities), from the same Census 2021 output areas.
Worcester’s Health Grade is 20th of 75 UK towns of 74,000 to 142,000
Ordered by Health Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Worcester, and others in Worcestershire. Life expectancy for men / women; deaths under 75 per 100 expected.
| # | Town | People | Life expectancy | Deaths under 75 | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Albans Hertfordshire | 75,544 | 80.7 / 84.6 | 79 | A− |
| 2 | Guildford Surrey | 77,870 | 81.4 / 85.5 | 78 | B+ |
| 3 | Woking Surrey | 75,655 | 80.6 / 84.2 | 87 | B |
| … | |||||
| 18 | Worthing West Sussex | 111,635 | 79.5 / 83.4 | 96 | C |
| 19 | Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire | 95,995 | 79.4 / 82.9 | 99 | C |
| 20 | Worcester Worcestershire | 105,439 | 78.8 / 83.2 | 101 | C |
| 21 | Aylesbury Buckinghamshire | 87,966 | 79.0 / 82.1 | 103 | C |
| 22 | Chester Cheshire | 92,756 | 77.9 / 83.3 | 111 | C |
| … | |||||
| 32 | Redditch Worcestershire | 81,634 | 78.6 / 82.1 | 112 | C− |
| … | |||||
| 75 | Oldham Greater Manchester | 110,722 | 74.0 / 78.2 | 166 | 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 Worcester
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worcester | 105,439 | 78.8 / 83.2 | 1.5 mi | C |
| Rushwick | 1,195 | 81.6 / 84.1 | 3.6 mi | B+ |
| Norton (Norton Juxta Kempsey) | 1,592 | 81.3 / 83.4 | 2.1 mi | A− |
| Fernhill Heath | 3,295 | 82.2 / 85.2 | 2.8 mi | A− |
| Lower Broadheath | 1,889 | 81.6 / 84.1 | 4.2 mi | A− |
| Hallow | 1,427 | 83.2 / 84.7 | 4.1 mi | A |
| Collett's Green | 1,542 | 81.4 / 83.6 | 4.2 mi | A− |
| Kempsey | 3,753 | 80.3 / 83.5 | 3.9 mi | B |
Hallow, 2.8 miles away, has men’s life expectancy of 83.2, 4.4 years longer than Worcester’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 Worcestershire Acute Hospitals 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 Worcester.
- 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 Worcester
How healthy is Worcester?
Worcester earns a C for health, healthier than 33% of UK towns on measures adjusted for age, and 20th of 75 UK towns of its size. Life expectancy is 78.8 for men and 83.2 for women (England 79.1 and 83.0), and there are 101 deaths under 75 for every 100 expected.
Which parts of Worcester have the highest life expectancy?
For men, Henwick (82.8), St Peters (82.3) and Lower Wick & Bromwich Road (81.0); the shortest is Warndon West (74.1). For women, St Peters is highest (87.8) and Warndon West lowest (78.9). OHID figures for 2019 to 2023, by neighbourhood of about 8,000 people.
How long are A&E waits at Worcestershire Royal Hospital?
NHS England publishes waits for the trust, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. In the 12 months to September 2026 it saw 53% of major-A&E patients within four hours, against 61% across England; in September 2026 the figure was 53%. In an emergency call 999; for urgent advice call NHS 111.
Can I get an NHS dentist in Worcester?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, 83% of adults in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire 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 Worcester do patients rate highest?
In the 2026 GP Patient Survey, Spring Gardens Group Medical Practice (86% good overall), Barbourne Health Centre (81% good overall) and Severn Valley Medical Practice (77% good overall). Across all 9 Worcester practices, 76% of patients rate their practice good, against 77% in England.
What is the life expectancy in Worcester?
78.8 years for men and 83.2 for women, on OHID’s figures for 2019 to 2023. Men can expect 64.9 of those years and women 66.6 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.