What are NHS waiting times in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

Health is devolved, so each nation publishes its own figures. Public Health Scotland reports waiting times against Scotland's targets, including the 12-week treatment time guarantee and weekly A&E figures. The Welsh Government publishes an NHS activity and performance summary each month with data on StatsWales. Northern Ireland's Department of Health publishes quarterly waiting time statistics for outpatients, inpatients and diagnostics.

Targets and counting rules differ, so comparisons between nations need care. See our guide to the devolved health statistics.

Official sources: Public Health Scotland · Welsh Government statistics · Department of Health NI statistics

The latest figure

The newest value is at NHS England. More on it: NHS waiting list (England).

When is the next figure out?

Monthly, usually the second Thursday of the month at 9:30am, covering the month two months earlier. No API: data are .xlsx/.csv files with changing file names on the NHS England statistics pages, which return a bot challenge (HTTP 202) to scripts; the GOV.UK statistics announcement page for each release is reachable and can be used to detect a new release

Every official release due in the next two weeks is on the release calendar.

Terms used in this answer

• Referral to treatment (RTT)
  The waiting time measure for planned hospital care in England: the time from referral to the start of consultant-led treatment. The NHS standard is 18 weeks.
• Great Britain and the United Kingdom
  Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom is Great Britain plus Northern Ireland. Some statistics cover only one or the other.
• Elective care
  Planned, non-emergency hospital treatment such as hip replacements, cataract operations and many outpatient appointments, usually after a referral.
• Median
  The middle value when all values are ordered from lowest to highest. Half are above and half below, so a few very large values cannot pull it up.
• Headcount
  A count of individual people, each counted once regardless of how many hours they work or how many posts they hold.
• Provisional figures
  Early estimates published before all data are in, so users get timely figures. They are expected to be updated when later data arrive.

Where the figures come from

• Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) and Northern Ireland departmental statistics
  A guide to NISRA and Northern Ireland official statistics: population, census, NICEI, jobs, waiting times, PSNI crime and house prices.
• Scottish official statistics: Scottish Government, National Records of Scotland, Public Health Scotland and others
  Where to find official Scottish figures: GERS, Scottish GDP, NRS population and deaths, PHS waiting times, exam results and SFC forecasts.
• Social care, childcare and children's social care statistics (DHSC, NHS England, Skills for Care, DfE, ONS and devolved bodies)
  Where to find official figures on care homes, social care staff, delayed discharge, unpaid carers, free childcare, childcare costs and children in care.

Related questions

• How long is the NHS waiting list?
• How many GPs are there in England?
• How long are A&E waiting times?

This answer says where the official figures are published and how they are defined. It gives no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request. More questions about nhs and health: all NHS and health questions.