Cancer waiting times, Scotland
The latest quarter is provisional
The share of patients in Scotland starting cancer treatment within 31 days of the decision to treat and within 62 days of an urgent referral with a suspicion of cancer, each quarter since 2012.
Treated within 62 days of urgent referral
73.6%
Q2 2026 · provisional
Verified against source, 28 October 2026, 11:51 UTC- Within 31 days of the decision to treat
- Within 62 days of urgent referral
Source: Public Health Scotland. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Data table
58 periods, newest first
| Period | Within 31 days of the decision to treat | Within 62 days of urgent referral |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 94.8% | 73.6% |
| Q1 2026 | 94.5% | 72.2% |
| Q4 2025 | 95.6% | 72.6% |
| Q3 2025 | 95.1% | 70.7% |
| Q2 2025 | 95.3% | 69.9% |
| Q1 2025 | 94.1% | 68.9% |
| Q4 2024 | 94.7% | 73.5% |
| Q3 2024 | 94.3% | 72.1% |
| Q2 2024 | 95.5% | 73.2% |
| Q1 2024 | 94.1% | 70.5% |
| Q4 2023 | 94.1% | 71.1% |
| Q3 2023 | 94.9% | 71.9% |
| Q2 2023 | 95.2% | 73.7% |
| Q1 2023 | 94.0% | 69.5% |
| Q4 2022 | 94.1% | 71.7% |
| Q3 2022 | 94.4% | 75.1% |
| Q2 2022 | 95.5% | 76.3% |
| Q1 2022 | 96.3% | 76.9% |
| Q4 2021 | 97.1% | 79.1% |
| Q3 2021 | 97.0% | 83.3% |
| Q2 2021 | 98.1% | 84.1% |
| Q1 2021 | 97.7% | 83.0% |
| Q4 2020 | 98.6% | 86.2% |
| Q3 2020 | 98.4% | 87.3% |
| Q2 2020 | 97.1% | 84.1% |
| Q1 2020 | 96.1% | 84.7% |
| Q4 2019 | 96.5% | 83.7% |
| Q3 2019 | 95.8% | 83.3% |
| Q2 2019 | 94.7% | 82.4% |
| Q1 2019 | 94.9% | 81.4% |
| Q4 2018 | 94.9% | 82.7% |
| Q3 2018 | 95.2% | 81.4% |
| Q2 2018 | 95.1% | 84.6% |
| Q1 2018 | 93.5% | 85.0% |
| Q4 2017 | 94.6% | 87.1% |
| Q3 2017 | 94.5% | 87.2% |
| Q2 2017 | 94.8% | 86.9% |
| Q1 2017 | 94.9% | 88.1% |
| Q4 2016 | 94.1% | 87.5% |
| Q3 2016 | 94.3% | 87.1% |
| Q2 2016 | 95.7% | 89.8% |
| Q1 2016 | 94.9% | 90.2% |
| Q4 2015 | 96.4% | 90.8% |
| Q3 2015 | 95.3% | 90.2% |
| Q2 2015 | 96.3% | 92.1% |
| Q1 2015 | 96.4% | 91.9% |
| Q4 2014 | 97.5% | 94.2% |
| Q3 2014 | 96.7% | 93.5% |
| Q2 2014 | 96.3% | 92.9% |
| Q1 2014 | 96.2% | 91.5% |
| Q4 2013 | 97.9% | 94.6% |
| Q3 2013 | 98.1% | 94.5% |
| Q2 2013 | 97.7% | 94.5% |
| Q1 2013 | 97.8% | 94.5% |
| Q4 2012 | 98.1% | 95.8% |
| Q3 2012 | 97.6% | 94.0% |
| Q2 2012 | 98.1% | 95.3% |
| Q1 2012 | 98.0% | 94.8% |
Source and licence
- Publisher
- Public Health Scotland
- Check it yourself
- https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancer-waiting-times/
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Retrieved
- 28 October 2026, 11:49 UTC
- Raw files fetched
- https://www.opendata.nhs.scot/dataset/cancer-waiting-timesSHA-256 6f082d9027d2d452b003d1f61ca7f373ab2a8f7e35b2fb45bd4bdeb8b5c2ecfa · 31,845 bytes
- https://www.opendata.nhs.scot/dataset/11c61a02-205b-43f6-9297-243679103617/resource/58527343-a930-4058-bf9e-3c6e5cb04010/download/cwt_31_day_standard.csvSHA-256 7a276789694a619c6af8507805bb32122b7d42a68ab080d1b2ab9154c6f2b662 · 1,151,417 bytes
- https://www.opendata.nhs.scot/dataset/11c61a02-205b-43f6-9297-243679103617/resource/23b3bbf7-7a37-4f86-974b-6360d6748e08/download/cwt_62_day_standard.csvSHA-256 4501d498e2b8e7de764e30173809d33109ae3fb2334dde72081b557624220e7c · 1,031,459 bytes
Verification
Verified against source, 28 October 2026, 11:51 UTC Run at 28 October 2026, 11:51 UTC; 116 of 116 figures matched the live source.
| Result | Check | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pass | Provenance recorded | Public Health Scotland; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-10-28T11:49:53Z; 3 raw file(s) |
| Pass | Raw files match recorded SHA-256 | 3 of 3 files intact |
| Pass | Re-parsing raw files reproduces figures | 116 of 116 figures and the headline reproduced |
| Pass | Figures are finite numbers | 116 figures, 0 invalid |
| Pass | Live source matches every figure | 116 of 116 figures match exactly after downloading 3 source file(s) again (3 byte-identical); the headline matches |
| Pass | Public Health Scotland file is current | latest period 2026 Q2 ended 120 days before retrieval (limit 200) |
| Pass | Boards sum to Scotland | 116 of 116 figures match the boards' rows summed in each stored file |
| Pass | Cancer types sum to all cancers | 116 of 116 figures match the 10 cancer types summed in each stored file |
| Pass | Within 62 days of urgent referral | 6 of 6 figures the page states match https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancer-waiting-times/cancer-waiting-times-1-april-to-30-june-2026/ |
| Pass | Source page answers | https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancer-waiting-times/ – HTTP 200 |
Notes
- Scotland's standards are 95% within 31 days and within 62 days. England measures 62 days from an urgent referral too, but against a 75% operational standard and its own rules, so the nations' figures are not directly comparable.
- Public Health Scotland marks the latest quarter provisional and revises it later.