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NHS waiting lists: estimate of unique patients, March 2022 onwards

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Table

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Standard shorthand is used in this table: [b] = break in time series, [e] = estimated.

Data valuesData descriptionDateLocal health board
557,917Estimate of unique patientsJanuary 2026Wales
138,390Estimate of unique patientsJanuary 2026Betsi Cadwaladr
6,791Estimate of unique patientsJanuary 2026Powys
59,892Estimate of unique patientsJanuary 2026Hywel Dda
92,406Estimate of unique patientsJanuary 2026Aneurin Bevan
111,256Estimate of unique patientsJanuary 2026Cardiff & Vale
70,204Estimate of unique patientsJanuary 2026Cwm Taf Morgannwg
72,662Estimate of unique patientsJanuary 2026Swansea Bay
6,316Estimate of unique patientsJanuary 2026South East Wales Region
580,289Estimate of unique patientsDecember 2025Wales
142,972Estimate of unique patientsDecember 2025Betsi Cadwaladr
7,011Estimate of unique patientsDecember 2025Powys
61,619Estimate of unique patientsDecember 2025Hywel Dda
99,805Estimate of unique patientsDecember 2025Aneurin Bevan
113,479Estimate of unique patientsDecember 2025Cardiff & Vale
73,769Estimate of unique patientsDecember 2025Cwm Taf Morgannwg
73,818Estimate of unique patientsDecember 2025Swansea Bay
7,816Estimate of unique patientsDecember 2025South East Wales Region
591,665Estimate of unique patientsNovember 2025Wales
146,680Estimate of unique patientsNovember 2025Betsi Cadwaladr
7,188Estimate of unique patientsNovember 2025Powys
62,604Estimate of unique patientsNovember 2025Hywel Dda
102,126Estimate of unique patientsNovember 2025Aneurin Bevan
114,368Estimate of unique patientsNovember 2025Cardiff & Vale
75,957Estimate of unique patientsNovember 2025Cwm Taf Morgannwg
Showing 1 to 25 of 365 rows
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Next update expected:23 April 2026

Updates

19th March 2026

New month added

19th February 2026

New month added

22nd January 2026

New month added

14th January 2026

Total figures for Wales for September and October 2025, which were originally published on 13 January 2026, did not include data for the South east region. These were corrected on 14 January

13th January 2026

Revisions applied to previous data where applicable

18th December 2025

New month added

4th December 2025

New month added

23rd October 2025
26th September 2025
Dataset first published.

Main information

Designation
Management information
Data provider
NHS Trusts and Local Health Boards
Data source
No specific source from data provider
Time period covered
March 2022 to January 2026

Overview

Summary of dataset and variables

This table provides estimated numbers of individual patients on Referral to Treatment (RTT) waiting lists in Wales by local health board.

Data collection or calculation

Estimates are based on management information provided by Welsh Local Health Boards. Management information are not assessed against the Code of Practice for statistics. Though the principles of the Code of Practice have been applied, these data are not subject to the level of quality assurance applied to accredited official statistics.

Statistical quality

Data from June to September 2025 have diverged slightly compared to expected trends. We will investigate this and revise these figures if necessary.

The methods used by the health boards to estimate numbers of individual patients on RTT waiting lists are different, reflecting the different underlying administrative systems in use. In some cases, health boards have confirmed that their methods enable all patients to be counted, and with no duplication, meaning the figures are expected to be very accurate. In other cases, it is known that some patients are not included in the count - for example because they are not recorded on the same systems as other patients - or that there is a possibility of some duplication. The most significant example of this is in Hywel Dda University health board, where it is not possible to include patients waiting for diagnostic services or therapies. These patients account for around 10% of the total RTT pathways provided by Hywel Dda. Other examples of over and under-coverage are expected to have a very small impact on the figures.

Betsi Cadwaladr University (BCU) local health board implemented an improved method for estimating unique patients which was applied to data from April 2023. This means figures for BCU before and after April 2023 are not directly comparable. The new method had the impact of reducing the estimates for BCU by around 4,000 compared with the previous method. This was around 3% of the BCU figure. The impact on Wales level figures was small, causing a reduction of less than 1% compared with the previous methodology.

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Published by

Organisation
Welsh Government
Contact email
stats.healthinfo@gov.wales