Stage of treatment waiting times
New outpatients, inpatients and day cases
Accredited official statistics
- Published
- 27 October 2026 (Latest release)
- Type
- Statistical report
- Author
- Public Health Scotland
About this release
This monthly release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) focuses on the length of time patients wait to be seen as a new outpatient or admitted for treatment as an inpatient or day case. These latest statistics up to 30 September 2026 cover all patients waiting for an appointment or procedure as well as those seen and removed from a waiting list covered by the national standards. Individual patients are counted more than once if they are waiting to attend more than one scheduled hospital appointment or admission, so the official statistics shown here do not reflect the actual number of individuals involved. To avoid overestimating the population affected, the number of ongoing waits for inpatients, day cases, new outpatients and any other service (e.g. diagnostics) should not be added together to determine the proportion of the total population waiting for these types of care. These statistics are however supplemented with an estimate on the number of individuals waiting.
Main points
- At 30 September 2026, there were an estimated 588,864 individuals on at least one new outpatient, inpatient or day case waiting list. This is equivalent to around 1 in 9 of Scotland’s population (mid-2025 estimates). Within this total, 460,672 individuals were estimated to be waiting for a new outpatient appointment, and 151,163 for an inpatient or day case admission.
New outpatient national standard - 95% of new outpatients should wait no longer than 12 weeks from referral to being seen
- There were 115,599 attendances at a new outpatient clinic during September 2026, an increase of 7.1% from the previous month, and a decrease of 2.2% compared to September 2025. In September 2026, 61.3% of these waits were completed in 12 weeks or less, down from 62.8% in August.
- At 30 September 2026, the number of ongoing waits for an appointment was 508,014, down 0.4% from the end of the previous month. The list size is 9.3% lower compared to 30 September 2025. Of these ongoing waits, 116,179 were for over 26 weeks.
- There were 12,683 waits over 52 weeks at 30 September 2026, down 1,756 from August. This decrease is consistent with the general reduction in waits over 52 weeks seen over the past year. Of those waiting over one year, 1,084 waits had exceeded two years, a decrease of 175 since the end of August.
Treatment Time Guarantee - Following the decision to treat, all eligible patients should wait no longer than 12 weeks for treatment as an inpatient or day case
- There were 24,657 inpatient and day case admissions during September 2026, an increase of 6.1% from August 2026, and of 5% compared to September 2025. Of these waits, 53.7% were completed within 12 weeks of treatment being agreed, down from 54.7% in August.
- At 30 September 2026, the number of ongoing waits for treatment was 156,786, down 1% from the end of August and 1.2% from 30 September 2025. Of these ongoing waits, 59,090 were for over 26 weeks.
- There were 15,064 waits over 52 weeks at 30 September 2026, down 884 from the end of August. Of those waits over a year, 1,476 had exceeded two years, a decrease of 345 from the end of August.
Background
The waiting times section of the website provides further information relating to the supply, quality assurance and reporting of waits, as well as links to the latest national guidance set by the Scottish Government.
Following implementation of the Scottish Government’s revised Waiting Times Guidance, published in December 2023, these statistics have been aligned to the revised waiting time clock adjustment rules since 30 July 2025. An extended impact assessment published in April 2026, provides detailed analysis on the impact of implementation on key trends over the full year to 31 March 2026.
Users of waiting times statistics often want to compare waiting times across the four nations of the United Kingdom. In 2024, work was carried out to assess the comparability of these statistics, led by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in partnership with NHS England, Department of Health and Social Care, Welsh Government and Department of Health Northern Ireland, Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland. Findings were published in July 2024, highlighting multiple causes for variation including:
- National waiting times policy: each country has different health care policies which drive priorities. Healthcare policies and policy documentation can be complex, evolve over time and be implemented in different ways.
- Waiting times management and measurement: the ways in which health boards manage and measure waits e.g. in the event of patient unavailability or non-attendance, has an impact on the calculation of waits.
- Data systems: waiting times statistics are extracted from operational systems. This can affect data coverage and the extent to which data are available and used for statistical or analytical purposes.
ONS concluded that direct comparisons on waiting times performance cannot be reliably drawn across the four nations. Comparisons between England and Wales, and to some extent Scotland and Northern Ireland, may be helpful because there are likely to be some more similarities, but more extensive investigation would be required to fully understand the impact of the different contexts. PHS endorses this position and asks users of these official statistics to refrain from drawing UK-wide comparisons.
Further information
Waiting times by age, sex and deprivation
PHS plans to release a new publication on 15 December 2026 looking at waiting times indicators by age, sex and deprivation. The first release will include a short report, interactive dashboard and data files showing two-year trends up to 30 September 2026. A second release, including data up to end March 2027, is planned for June 2027.
These publications will be badged as 'official statistics in development', allowing us to publish developmental data in an area of significant public interest, whilst also seeking valuable feedback from users and stakeholders in the quality, nature and presentation of the statistics. Feedback will also help shape the timelines and content of future reports, potentially including, for example, waiting times indicators by race and ethnicity or whether people live in urban or rural areas.
The next release of this publication will be 24 November 2026.
PHS is currently undertaking a review of the statistical publications we produce; all planned care waiting times outputs are being reviewed and this may lead to a change in the content, layout and frequency of future publications. Any substantial changes will be announced ahead of implementation. For more information, please contact us at phs.waitingtimes@phs.scot.
General enquiries
If you have an enquiry relating to this publication, please contact Stuart Kerr at phs.waitingtimes@phs.scot.
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If you have a media enquiry relating to this publication, please contact the Communications and Engagement team.
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Older versions of this publication
Versions of this publication released before 16 March 2020 may be found on the Data and Intelligence, Health Protection Scotland or Improving Health websites.