National waiting lists
Use this page to find information on the total number of public patients on waiting lists nationwide and how long they are waiting.
You can also see a breakdown of waiting lists by:
- hospital
- specialty
To view these, select the type of care that you are waiting for.
Types of care explained
National waiting times include information for 4 types of planned care:
- Inpatient
- Outpatient
- Day case
- Endoscopy
Inpatient
Inpatient care is when you stay in hospital overnight for care or treatment.
Outpatient
Outpatient care is usually when you have a hospital appointment for a consultation. You might also have an outpatient appointment for a diagnostic test, minor procedure or treatment. You are not admitted to hospital and you do not stay overnight.
Day case
Day case care is when you are admitted to hospital for care or treatment but you do not stay overnight. You are discharged on the same day.
Endoscopy
Endoscopy is a procedure to diagnose and treat problems in the digestive system that leads from your mouth to your stomach to your bottom.
| Type of care | Adult | Child | Patients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inpatient | 21096 | 3064 | 24160 |
| Outpatient | 510169 | 78375 | 588544 |
| Daycase | 57905 | 5688 | 63593 |
| GI endoscopy | 24442 |
Data provided by:
The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF)
We update this data on the third Friday of every month.
About waiting times
Waiting times cover the time that it takes for a patient to have their first appointment after being referred for care.
This could be their first appointment as an outpatient, inpatient, a day case or for an endoscopy.
The length of time a patient will wait can depend on:
- if their condition is assessed as routine or urgent
- the number of people on the waiting list
- the demand for the service you are waiting on
- the capacity of the service
Waiting list data
These pages show information on the number of people waiting for scheduled care and how long they are waiting.
It does not show information for emergency (unscheduled) care.
The outpatient waiting lists show the number of people waiting to be seen. These include people who:
- have a date for their appointment
- are waiting for an appointment date
Data for inpatient, day case and endoscopy care shows only the number of people waiting on an appointment. It does not include people who have a date for their appointment.