Suffrago UK Data Hub
RankingsVerificationMethods

Independent service run by Suffrago – not an official government website. Every figure comes from an official UK publisher under its open licence and is checked against that source each time the data is refreshed.

Patients waiting for planned care, Scotland

Patients in Scotland waiting at each month end for a first outpatient appointment and for inpatient or day case treatment, all specialties, over the 25 months Public Health Scotland keeps current.

Waiting for a first outpatient appointment

508,014

Sep 2026

Verified against source, 31 October 2026, 11:13 UTC
Patients waiting for planned care, Scotland
  • Waiting for a first outpatient appointment
  • Waiting for inpatient or day case treatment
0200k400k600kSep 24Jan 25May 25Sep 25Jan 26May 26Sep 26

Source: Public Health Scotland. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Data table

25 periods, newest first

PeriodWaiting for a first outpatient appointmentWaiting for inpatient or day case treatment
Sep 2026508,014156,786
Aug 2026510,196158,363
Jul 2026508,784158,656
Jun 2026498,150158,690
May 2026496,500157,400
Apr 2026490,146157,114
Mar 2026489,183156,935
Feb 2026497,104158,739
Jan 2026507,462159,320
Dec 2025520,378158,490
Nov 2025533,411158,649
Oct 2025551,569158,922
Sep 2025560,159158,651
Aug 2025570,093158,093
Jul 2025574,918158,379
Jun 2025569,737159,150
May 2025570,259159,793
Apr 2025566,143159,358
Mar 2025560,408159,177
Feb 2025561,787159,391
Jan 2025564,134159,543
Dec 2024565,768158,816
Nov 2024568,733158,188
Oct 2024572,435157,471
Sep 2024572,897156,620

Download CSVDownload JSON with full provenance

Source and licence

Publisher
Public Health Scotland
Check it yourself
https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/stage-of-treatment-waiting-times/
Licence
Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Retrieved
31 October 2026, 11:11 UTC
Raw files fetched

Verification

Verified against source, 31 October 2026, 11:13 UTC Run at 31 October 2026, 11:13 UTC; 50 of 50 figures matched the live source.

ResultCheckDetail
PassProvenance recordedPublic Health Scotland; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-10-31T11:11:33Z; 2 raw file(s)
PassRaw files match recorded SHA-2562 of 2 files intact
PassRe-parsing raw files reproduces figures50 of 50 figures and the headline reproduced
PassFigures are finite numbers50 figures, 0 invalid
PassLive source matches every figure50 of 50 figures match exactly after downloading 2 source file(s) again (2 byte-identical); the headline matches
PassPublic Health Scotland file is currentlatest period 2026-09 ended 31 days before retrieval (limit 100)
PassBoards sum to Scotland50 of 50 figures match the sum of the 18 boards and other codes in the stored file
PassPHS distribution of waits file agrees50 of 50 figures match the weekly bands summed in https://www.opendata.nhs.scot/dataset/e9dbef36-a343-4b9a-ab7e-b6e6cbcbb38e/resource/f9232c17-a90e-4d35-a863-11bdb3a748c0/download/sot_distribution_of_ongoing_completed_waits_monthly_sep26.csv
PassSource page answershttps://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/stage-of-treatment-waiting-times/ – HTTP 200

Notes

  • Scotland counts the waits at each stage of treatment – first outpatient appointment, then inpatient or day case treatment – while England's referral to treatment figures count whole pathways from referral, so the two are not comparable. One person can wait at more than one stage.
  • From 30 July 2025 the figures use revised rules for adjusting the waiting clock. Public Health Scotland revises earlier months each release, so the hub shows the 25 months its monthly file keeps current.