18-07-2025
NHS tracker: are hospital surgery wait times improving near you?
Every NHS hospital in England has been told to improve patient waiting times for planned treatment as the government has made hitting the 18-week target one of its key priorities for this March 2026, the government wants to see at least 65% of patients waiting no longer than 18 get there, every NHS trust has to either get to 60% or improve on its November 2024 figures by five percentage points - whichever is is just a stepping stone towards the ultimate goal of achieving 92% by July your postcode to find out whether waiting lists are getting better near you.
About the data
BBC Verify's analysis included NHS trusts in England that had at least 5,000 people waiting for elective treatment in November in other nations are different and the interim targets for next March set by the UK government do not Scotland aims for 90% of patients to be treated within 18 weeks of referral, in Wales the target is for 95% of patients to wait less than 26 Northern Ireland, 55% of patients should wait no longer than 13 weeks for day case or inpatient treatment.
Interactive tool produced by Alli Shultes, Rebecca French, Daniel Wainwright, Nick Triggle, Ollie Lux Rigby, Chris Kay, Adam Allen, Avi Holden and Rebecca Wedge-Roberts
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