NHS Scotland inpatient waiting times

Information on inpatient and day case waiting times for NHS Scotland.

What these statistics show

The following is shown for each specialty:

  • how many patients were admitted for treatment between 1 October 2023 to 31 December 2023
  • median wait – one simple way of explaining this is that roughly half of patients waited less than the median and half of patients waited longer
More information on these statistics

These statistics relate to the wait experienced by patients from 1 October 2023 to 31 December 2023 who were:

  • seen at a new outpatient appointment, or
  • admitted for treatment

About the median wait

The median wait aims to provide the typical length of time patients waited to be seen and complete their wait. This is provided for each health board and speciality so that you can get information on the ones relevant to you.

For patients currently on a waiting list, some will have waited less than the median and others will have waited longer. This’ll have been partly influenced by a clinical decision on the urgency of care required.

The wait experienced by patients may vary from the median for a number of reasons, including the:

  • clinical need of the individual
  • availability of services
  • number of patients waiting to be treated

During the pandemic services were often under pressure and only patients with urgent care needs could be treated. This was reflected in shorter median waits. More patients who had their wait delayed are now being seen but waiting time statistics will most likely continue to fluctuate as boards address the backlog of patients waiting for care whilst managing ongoing challenges on capacity.

About the statistics

These statistics are collated and quality assured by Public Health Scotland.

If your waiting time isn’t shown here, please visit the Public Health Scotland website for the full release of national statistics. You can also contact your local health board for further information.

These statistics were gathered from national data on patients who completed their wait for treatment from 1 October 2023 to 31 December 2023. The statistics for this period are displayed in weeks.

Statistics are not included if there were less than 20 patients admitted for treatment in the period. This is to make sure that the:

  • risk of revealing information about individual patients is minimised
  • number of cases is high enough to provide meaningful statistics

The next set of statistics will be published on 28 May 2024. This’ll show waiting times from 1 January 2024 to 31 March 2024.

Back to waiting times home page

Waiting times in NHS Scotland

Anaesthetics

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 278

Median waiting time:

  • 17 weeks
Cardiothoracic Surgery

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 774

Median waiting time:

  • 5 weeks
Clinical Radiology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 163

Median waiting time:

  • 2 weeks
Dermatology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 31

Median waiting time:

  • 3 weeks
Endocrinology and Diabetes

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 138

Median waiting time:

  • 4 weeks
General Medicine

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 260

Median waiting time:

  • 1 week
GP

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 54

Median waiting time:

  • 1 week
Haematology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 582

Median waiting time:

  • 1 week
Neurology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 114

Median waiting time:

  • 4 weeks
Ophthalmology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 12728

Median waiting time:

  • 11 weeks
Orthopaedics

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 9996

Median waiting time:

  • 31 weeks
Paediatric Surgery

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 762

Median waiting time:

  • 16 weeks
Plastic Surgery

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 2796

Median waiting time:

  • 8 weeks
Respiratory Medicine

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 654

Median waiting time:

  • 2 weeks
Urology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 5409

Median waiting time:

  • 7 weeks
Cardiology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 2652

Median waiting time:

  • 7 weeks
Clinical Oncology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 800

Median waiting time:

  • 2 weeks
Community Dental Practice

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 714

Median waiting time:

  • 8 weeks
Ear, Nose and Throat

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 3942

Median waiting time:

  • 16 weeks
Gastroenterology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 693

Median waiting time:

  • 3 weeks
General Surgery

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 11740

Median waiting time:

  • 7 weeks
Gynaecology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 3837

Median waiting time:

  • 7 weeks
Medical Oncology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 696

Median waiting time:

  • 2 weeks
Neurosurgery

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 628

Median waiting time:

  • 6 weeks
Oral Surgery

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 245

Median waiting time:

  • 19 weeks
Paediatric Dentistry

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 480

Median waiting time:

  • 17 weeks
Paediatrics

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 298

Median waiting time:

  • 2 weeks
Renal Medicine

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 183

Median waiting time:

  • 2 weeks
Rheumatology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 98

Median waiting time:

  • 2 weeks

Waiting well

The waiting well hub has lots of information and tips to support your health and wellbeing while waiting.

Taking steps to improve you health and wellbeing can help you to:

  • ease some symptoms
  • manage your health
  • stop new problems from starting
  • improve your health before your care – this may help you to get better faster