NHS Waiting List Falls to 7.1 Million but 120,000 Patients Still Wait Over a Year

NHS England's latest referral-to-treatment (RTT) statistics for March 2026 show the elective waiting list has fallen to 7.1 million pathways, its lowest level since November 2022. For the first time since 2021, 65.3 per cent of patients are being seen within 18 weeks, just edging above the government's interim milestone of 65 per cent. The figure represents real progress: at its peak the list exceeded 7.8 million, and performance against the 18-week standard had fallen as low as 56 per cent. Despite the improvement, more than 120,000 patients were still waiting over 52 weeks as of February 2026, a figure that includes thousands waiting for orthopaedics, ophthalmology, dermatology, and ENT. The NHS's longer-term target is to return 92 per cent of patients to within 18 weeks by March 2029, a goal that will require sustained progress across the most backlogged specialties.

Which specialties have the longest waits?

NHS England has identified five specialties for targeted reform in its Reforming Elective Care for Patients plan: ENT, gastroenterology, respiratory, urology, and cardiology. Trauma and orthopaedics, along with ophthalmology and dermatology, built up some of the largest backlogs during the pandemic and continue to record longer-than-average waits. As of March 2026, no specialty had yet returned to the constitutional standard of 92 per cent of patients seen within 18 weeks. New surgical hubs and community diagnostic centres are expanding capacity, but patients in these specialties face waits that remain well above pre-pandemic levels.

What this means for patients

For the roughly 2.4 million patients currently waiting more than 18 weeks, the improvement in the national headline figure offers little immediate relief. Under NHS Constitution Right 6a, patients have the legal right to ask their GP to refer them to any NHS or NHS-commissioned provider with a shorter wait for their first outpatient appointment. This includes independent sector hospitals such as Spire, Nuffield, and Circle Health Group, which treat NHS patients at no extra cost. Exercising this right can reduce waiting times significantly: the average patient who searches by postcode on ShorterWait finds a hospital with a 13-week shorter wait just 13 miles away.

How to find a shorter wait

Search by postcode and specialty on ShorterWait's free hospital comparison tool to see ranked waiting times for every NHS and NHS-commissioned provider near you. If you find a shorter wait, ask your GP to re-refer you using the NHS e-Referral Service. The Switch Pack (£14.99) includes a GP letter template, step-by-step switching guide, and 90 days of weekly wait-time alerts so you can track when new capacity opens.