A Gera Systems data report · England · NHS England RTT, April 2026
England NHS Waiting Lists by Specialty (April 2026)
The NHS waiting list by specialty ranks every NHS England consultant-led Referral to Treatment (RTT) treatment function by how many people are waiting to start treatment, how long the typical patient waits, and the share seen within the 18-week constitutional standard. In April 2026 there were 7,123,980 people on an NHS waiting list in England, with just 64.9% seen within 18 weeks and a median wait of 11.9 weeks. These are England figures only.
Which NHS specialties have the longest waiting lists in England, and how long do they take?
In April 2026, 7,123,980 people in England were on an NHS consultant-led waiting list, with just 64.9% seen within 18 weeks (median 11.9 weeks). The largest list is Trauma and Orthopaedic (827,992); the longest typical wait is Oral Surgery (15.2 weeks). Source: NHS England RTT Waiting Times, OGL v3.0.
Verified data you can cite — cryptographically attested to the official source
Every other “NHS waiting list by specialty” listicle online is an unsourced scrape or a stale screenshot. This report ships with a cryptographic proof that the numbers match the official NHS England RTT source under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The underlying dataset (uk-nhs-waits, April 2026) carries a signed Gera Vouch (Ed25519) attestation, so any third party — including an AI agent — can independently confirm the rows powering this report are exactly the rows Gera attested, from the stated NHS England source. No estimates beyond what NHS England itself publishes; no scraping; no guesswork.
The national picture (England, April 2026)
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Total incomplete RTT pathways (full extract) | 7,123,980 |
| % waiting 18 weeks or less | 64.9% |
| Median wait | 11.9 weeks |
| Constitutional standard (% within 18 weeks) | 92% — not met |
| Treatment functions ranked | 23 |
A pathway is not a person: one patient can be on several waiting lists at once, so ~7,123,980 pathways map to roughly 6.1 million unique people (NHS England). “Waiting” means waiting to start treatment.
The 10 largest NHS waiting lists, by specialty
Ranked by number of people waiting to start treatment, April 2026. Trauma and Orthopaedic alone holds 11.6% of every person waiting in England.
| # | Specialty | People waiting | Share of total | Within 18 wks | Median wait |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trauma and Orthopaedic | 827,992 | 11.6% | 58.8% | 13.9 weeks |
| 2 | Other - Medical Services | 620,792 | 8.7% | 70.4% | 10.3 weeks |
| 3 | Ophthalmology | 612,588 | 8.6% | 73.1% | 9.7 weeks |
| 4 | Ear Nose and Throat | 589,187 | 8.3% | 58.3% | 14.1 weeks |
| 5 | Gynaecology | 564,686 | 7.9% | 60.2% | 13.3 weeks |
| 6 | Other - Surgical Services | 465,868 | 6.5% | 65.5% | 11.4 weeks |
| 7 | General Surgery | 382,295 | 5.4% | 62.7% | 12.7 weeks |
| 8 | Dermatology | 380,277 | 5.3% | 65.7% | 11.2 weeks |
| 9 | Cardiology | 378,687 | 5.3% | 68.4% | 11.4 weeks |
| 10 | Urology | 378,422 | 5.3% | 64.9% | 12.2 weeks |
Worst 18-week access, by specialty
The 18-week measure is the NHS constitutional yardstick (target: 92%). No England specialty meets it. The five worst for access, April 2026:
| # | Specialty | Within 18 wks | Median wait | People waiting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oral Surgery | 54.9% | 15.2 weeks | 321,516 |
| 2 | Plastic Surgery | 56.6% | 14.3 weeks | 102,433 |
| 3 | Ear Nose and Throat | 58.3% | 14.1 weeks | 589,187 |
| 4 | Trauma and Orthopaedic | 58.8% | 13.9 weeks | 827,992 |
| 5 | Neurology | 60.1% | 13.5 weeks | 209,399 |
By contrast, Elderly Medicine has the best access at 82.4% within 18 weeks — unlock the full report below for all 23 specialties on every axis.
Get the full report
All 23 NHS England treatment functions, ranked by size, median wait and 18-week access — plus a JSON download.
Unlock the full report — all 23 specialties, ranked
Get the complete ranked dataset for every NHS England treatment function across all three axes — waiting-list size, median wait and 18-week access — plus a JSON download. Free; we just need an email.
Need the full dataset + commercial licence?
The complete structured dataset (CSV + JSON) for all 23treatment functions, the signed Gera Vouch attestation, and a commercial-use / redistribution licence are available as a paid data product — £49 one-off for a single edition, or £199/year for every monthly RTT edition plus API access to the attested dataset. Ideal for private healthcare, insurers and digital-health tools that need the machine-readable layer.
Contact us for the data licence →Related NHS data on GeraClinic
NHS waiting lists by specialty: frequently asked questions
- Which NHS specialty has the longest waiting list in England?
- By list size, Trauma and Orthopaedic has the largest NHS waiting list in England — 827,992 people waiting to start treatment in April 2026, about 11.6% of all incomplete pathways, with 58.8% seen within 18 weeks. Source: NHS England RTT Waiting Times (OGL v3.0). England only.
- Which NHS specialty has the longest typical wait?
- Oral Surgery has the longest typical (median) wait — 15.2 weeks in April 2026, with only 54.9% seen within the 18-week standard and 321,516 people on the list. The median is the wait the middle patient experiences. Source: NHS England RTT Waiting Times.
- Which NHS specialty has the best 18-week access?
- Elderly Medicine has the best 18-week access — 82.4% of patients seen within 18 weeks in April 2026 (median 7.6 weeks), the only treatment function approaching the 92% constitutional standard. No England specialty currently meets the 92% standard.
- Is this NHS waiting-list data verified, and can I cite it?
- Yes. Every figure is derived directly from the official NHS England Consultant-led RTT Waiting Times release for April 2026 (published 11 June 2026), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The underlying dataset carries a signed Gera Vouch (Ed25519) attestation, so anyone — including an AI agent — can independently confirm the rows match the official NHS England source. No estimates beyond what NHS England itself publishes.
- Does this cover Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
- No. Consultant-led RTT waiting times are an NHS England statistic. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run and publish their own elective waiting-time statistics on different definitions, so they are out of scope and cross-UK comparison is not valid from this data.
On a waiting list and want to be seen sooner?
With 7,123,980 people on NHS waiting lists in England (April 2026), many use a private consultation for an earlier assessment, a second opinion or to keep things moving. GeraClinic's UK-registered clinicians can assess your symptoms online, often the same day.
Contains public sector information published by NHS England and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: NHS England — Consultant-led Referral to Treatment (RTT) Waiting Times (England, April 2026, published 11 June 2026).
Informational/educational only — not a substitute for professional medical advice; a clinician interprets results.
NHS England waiting-list figures (consultant-led Referral to Treatment, England only) are published monthly and change with each release. Figures show the published count for the reference month stated; always confirm the current position on england.nhs.uk before relying on it. This is independent analysis, not affiliated with or endorsed by NHS England, and is general information — not medical advice.