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After decades of dedicating your blood, sweat and tears a 9 to 5, we all want to settle down somewhere we know we’ll be well-looked after – whether that be when we need medical attention or when we just fancy a cuppa and a chat. There are places across the country that are far better suited to OAPs than others, and now the Times has compiled a ‘Growing Old Index’ to reveal exactly where retirees are the healthiest and happiest. And you won’t have to go far out of London to find the number one spot.
The paper’s research looked at six main factors: average life expectancy, GP provision, A&E wait times, the referral period for trauma and orthopaedic services, number of care home beds and where each location ranks in the ONS’s annual happiness index.
After diving into all that data, the Times said that Windsor and Maidenhead is home to England’s healthiest, happiest retirees right now. The royal borough, just 20 minutes from the capital city, has the second highest average life expectancy (83.2 years) after Wokingham (84 years) and is joint first for the proportion of referrals to trauma and orthopaedic services within 18 weeks.
Windsor and Maidenhead also got high scores when it came to happiness, GP provision, the number of care homes and A&E waiting times
But OAPs don’t just rely on health services to keep them content. Things like green spaces, leisure facilities and social communities are important too. One 95-year-old Maidenhead resident told the Times that she stays busy with two luncheon clubs every week, theatre shows at Norden Farm Centre for the Arts and things going on at the ‘very good’ community centre.
England’s second best place for retirees, according to the Times’ research, is Hartlepool in County Durham. It ranked first in the country for A&E wait times, fourth for trauma and orthopaedic referrals and seventh for happiness and care home beds per capita. Third place went to Solihull in the West Midlands. See the Times’ full list of England’s best places to retire here.
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