Hospital waiting times
The NHS England waiting list for planned hospital treatment each month, as published - its size, the median wait, the share waiting under 18 weeks and the number waiting over a year. Data as of 10 September 2026.
Waiting list
data to Jul 2026NHS England
Released 10 Sep 2026
Changes of method: (1) Feb 2024, community services removed · (2) Apr 2025, validation exercise
Median wait
data to Jul 2026NHS England
Released 10 Sep 2026
Changes of method: (1) Feb 2024, community services removed · (2) Apr 2025, validation exercise
Waiting under 18 weeks
data to Jul 2026NHS England
Released 10 Sep 2026
Changes of method: (1) Feb 2024, community services removed · (2) Apr 2025, validation exercise
Waiting over 52 weeks
data to Jul 2026NHS England
Released 10 Sep 2026
Changes of method: (1) Feb 2024, community services removed · (2) Apr 2025, validation exercise
| Measure | Latest month | Figure | Month before | Change on month before | Source release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waiting list | Jul 2026 | 7,328,252 pathways | 7,272,291 pathways | +0.8% | 10 Sep 2026 |
| Median wait | Jul 2026 | 12.0 weeks | 11.9 weeks | +0.1 weeks | 10 Sep 2026 |
| Waiting under 18 weeks | Jul 2026 | 65.4% | 65.8% | -0.4 points | 10 Sep 2026 |
| Waiting over 52 weeks | Jul 2026 | 111,379 pathways | 105,711 pathways | +5.4% | 10 Sep 2026 |
Download the whole series: CSV · JSON, with every release collected
Method note
The figures are NHS England's referral-to-treatment statistics: pathways for consultant-led planned care that are still waiting at the end of each month (incomplete pathways), England, as published in the RTT Overview Timeseries including NHS England's estimates for trusts that did not submit data. A pathway is a referral, not a person, and one person may be waiting on more than one pathway.
Four measures are shown: the size of the waiting list, in millions; the median wait, in weeks; the share waiting under 18 weeks, against the constitutional standard of 92%; and the number waiting more than 52 weeks. The share is held in the workbook as a fraction and is shown here as a percentage.
The series has breaks that change its level without any change in waiting. In February 2024 community-service pathways were taken out of the statistics. In April 2025 a time-limited validation exercise removed pathways that no longer needed treatment. And pathways removed without a reported completion have risen since late 2023. NHS England revises earlier months about every six months; each revision is recorded below.
Figures are monthly, published on a Thursday about six weeks after the month ends.
Sources and licences
- England: NHS England, Referral to Treatment (RTT) Waiting Times, RTT Overview Timeseries including estimates for missing trusts. Vintage used: the release of 10 Sep 2026. Consultant-led referral-to-treatment pathways still waiting at the end of the month (incomplete pathways), England, commissioner basis, with NHS England's estimates for trusts that did not submit. Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: NHS England, Referral to Treatment Waiting Times Statistics, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland measure waiting differently (stages of treatment, a 26-week standard, quarterly figures), and Germany, the United States and Japan publish no national waiting-time series, so this tracker is England only.
Revisions
Changes a source has made to its own past figures since this tracker began collecting.
None recorded yet. Collection began on 4 Oct 2026; every release received since is kept.
Download
CSV of the whole series · JSON, with every release collected