Waiting times in the NHS App

Under Appointments in the NHS App, patients can see that they are on a waiting list and an estimated waiting times for their hospital treatment.

It is intended to give patients a clearer, more realistic view of how long they may wait for treatment.

Note:

• It can take 2 weeks for your waiting list to show in the NHS App
• Waiting lists may not show if the healthcare provider has not provided their waiting list information
• Not all waiting times are made available in the app, but you're still on a waiting list

Patients should contact their GP, or the service they’ve been referred to, if they have any questions about their waiting list.

There are two waiting times shown when a patient is confirmed to be on a waiting list, both relate to time to treatment:

• average wait time - the average (mean) wait of all patients in the specialty (department) at each trust 

• 8 in 10 patients - for every 10 patients seen in the specialty (department), 8 are seen within the time frame shown 

Waiting times are based on how long patients have waited for treatment for that specialty (department) at a given hospital.

Some people will be seen sooner than the average waiting time and some patients will wait longer.

This is why the App also shows the 8 in 10 metric. Hospitals prioritise patients based on clinical urgency, so waiting times mat vary depending on each patient's individual health needs. 

The waiting times shown is the time patients usually wait for treatment. Treatment may be a procedure that takes place in hospital, either as a day visit or with an overnight stay.

Not every patient will need treatment. The hospital or health care team will decide what care is appropriate. All patients are offered an outpatient appointment first. The waiting times displayed in the App are for treatment.  

Patients can also see estimated wait time information earlier in the referral to treatment journey in the NHS App, using information from the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS) Manage Your Referral service.

The waiting time to treatment methodology used within the NHS App aligns with the approach used in other NHS services, including the e-RS and the  My Planned Care Patient Portal.  

The NHS App uses waiting list information from the Waiting List Minimum Data Set (WLMDS), a combined list of patients on waiting lists reported by trusts. Waiting times are calculated using this data provided by each trust. Data is updated weekly based on trust submissions to WLMDS. This means a patient’s estimated waiting times may change as trust data is refreshed.