GeraClinic / Gera Health Access Index
Gera Health Access Index — NHS Healthcare Access by Area
One score for how easy it is to get NHS care where you live. The Gera Health Access Index joins five real NHS England and ONS datasets — A&E 4-hour performance, GP access, ambulance response, elective (RTT) waits and life expectancy — into a single 0–100 score per NHS region. In May 2026, London leads at 77.3 and South West trails at 29.1.
Which part of England has the best NHS healthcare access right now?
As of May 2026, the Gera Health Access Index — combining NHS A&E, GP, ambulance, elective-wait and ONS life-expectancy data — ranks London highest for overall NHS access at 77.3 / 100 and South West lowest at 29.1 / 100, across all seven NHS England regions. Gera re-computes the index on each monthly release.
The HHAI joins five real NHS England / ONS datasets at the NHS region level, normalises each 0–100 (higher = better access), and weights them (A&E 25%, GP 25%, ambulance 20%, elective 15%, life expectancy 15%). It is published per region with a full, reproducible methodology. Lower access → lower score.
| NHS region | Health Access Index | A&E 4-hour | Ambulance Cat 1 | RTT within 18 wks | Life expectancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. London | 77.3 / 100 | 67.3% | 7m 00s | 66.6% | 82.8 years |
| 2. North East and Yorkshire | 75.5 / 100 | 66.0% | 7m 22s | 68.6% | 80.3 years |
| 3. East of England | 65.1 / 100 | 65.3% | 8m 17s | 60.9% | 82.2 years |
| 4. Midlands | 54.8 / 100 | 62.7% | 8m 17s | 63.8% | 81.1 years |
| 5. North West | 53.8 / 100 | 61.4% | 6m 55s | 64.4% | 80.2 years |
| 6. South East | 48.1 / 100 | 65.8% | 8m 25s | 63.8% | 82.5 years |
| 7. South West | 29.1 / 100 | 57.3% | 9m 22s | 68.1% | 82.3 years |
Check your area's NHS health access
Enter your postcode or pick your region for your local Gera Health Access Index, the five real underlying figures, and a score you can re-weight
Enter your postcode or pick your NHS region to see your local Gera Health Access Index, the five real underlying NHS figures vs the England average, and a re-weightable score you control.
Health access by NHS region
Gera Health Access Index: FAQs
- What is the Gera Health Access Index?
- The Gera Health Access Index (HHAI) is a 0–100 score per NHS England region that combines five real NHS England and ONS open datasets into one healthcare-access measure: A&E 4-hour performance, GP appointment access, ambulance Category-1 response time, NHS elective (RTT) 18-week waits, and life expectancy at birth. A higher score means easier, faster access to care. London scores 77.3 (highest) and South West scores 29.1 (lowest) as of May 2026.
- Which area of England has the best healthcare access?
- On the Gera Health Access Index, London has the strongest overall healthcare access of the seven NHS England regions, scoring 77.3 / 100 (strongest access). South West has the most constrained access at 29.1 / 100. The index weighs A&E, GP, ambulance, elective-wait and life-expectancy data together, so it reflects whole-system access rather than any single metric.
- How is the Gera Health Access Index calculated?
- Each of the five inputs is min-max normalised to a 0–100 sub-score across the seven NHS England regions (oriented so higher always means better access), then combined with fixed weights: A&E 25%, GP 25%, ambulance 20%, elective RTT 15%, and life expectancy 15%. The weighted sum is the HHAI. Every input value is the real published NHS England or ONS figure — the index is the join and the weighting, never an invented number.
- What data is the index based on, and how fresh is it?
- Five Open Government Licence v3.0 datasets: NHS England A&E monthly statistics (March 2026), Appointments in General Practice (April 2026), Ambulance Quality Indicators (May 2026), consultant-led RTT waiting times (April 2026), and ONS life expectancy at birth (2017-19). The NHS components refresh monthly; Gera re-computes the index on each release. 7 of 7 NHS England regions have all 5 inputs.
- Why are there seven regions and not more?
- The five datasets are published at different geographies (NHS trusts, Integrated Care Boards, ambulance trusts, ONS local authorities). The only geography with complete coverage across all five is the NHS England region. Joining on that common key gives seven regions, all with full five-dataset coverage, so no region is included with a missing input silently treated as zero.
- Can I see my own area’s healthcare access?
- Yes. Enter your postcode or pick your region in the Health Access Checker on this page. It returns your NHS region’s Gera Health Access Index, the five real underlying figures, and how each compares to the England average — and lets you re-weight the five components to match what matters most to you.
Can't wait for an NHS appointment in your area?
Across England only 63.9% of major A&E patients are seen within 4 hours and the median elective wait is 11.9 weeks. GeraClinic can connect you to a UK-registered doctor today — wherever you live.
Sources
The Gera Health Access Index is computed only from these five real, free, authoritative datasets — every figure on this page traces back to one of them. The index (the join + the weighting) is the Gera contribution; no value is invented.
Contains public sector information published by NHS England and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: NHS England — A&E Attendances and Emergency Admissions, Monthly Statistics (March 2026, published 2026-05-14).
Contains public sector information published by NHS England and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: NHS England — Appointments in General Practice (April 2026, published 28 May 2026).
Contains public sector information published by NHS England and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: NHS England — Ambulance Quality Indicators (AQI), AmbSYS (May 2026, published 2026-06-11).
Contains public sector information published by NHS England and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: NHS England — Consultant-led Referral to Treatment (RTT) Waiting Times (April 2026, published June 2026).
Contains public sector information published by Office for National Statistics and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics — Life expectancy by local authority + Health state life expectancies (Healthy life expectancy), UK (2017-19).
Informational/educational only — not a substitute for professional medical advice; a clinician interprets results.