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

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Variable	Visibility	Selected values	Action
Date	Shown in table	All 48 values	Change values
Local health board	Shown in table	All 9 values	Change values
Data description	Shown in table	Estimate of unique patients	Value cannot be changed

Table

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

Data values	Data description	Date	Local health board
547,663	Estimate of unique patients	March 2022	Wales
127,344	Estimate of unique patients	March 2022	Betsi Cadwaladr
5,700	Estimate of unique patients	March 2022	Powys
62,250	Estimate of unique patients	March 2022	Hywel Dda
96,604	Estimate of unique patients	March 2022	Aneurin Bevan
94,904	Estimate of unique patients	March 2022	Cardiff & Vale
84,107	Estimate of unique patients	March 2022	Cwm Taf Morgannwg
76,754	Estimate of unique patients	March 2022	Swansea Bay
575,541	Estimate of unique patients	June 2022	Wales
137,424	Estimate of unique patients	June 2022	Betsi Cadwaladr
6,089	Estimate of unique patients	June 2022	Powys
66,810	Estimate of unique patients	June 2022	Hywel Dda
99,949	Estimate of unique patients	June 2022	Aneurin Bevan
100,956	Estimate of unique patients	June 2022	Cardiff & Vale
84,367	Estimate of unique patients	June 2022	Cwm Taf Morgannwg
79,946	Estimate of unique patients	June 2022	Swansea Bay
585,061	Estimate of unique patients	July 2022	Wales
140,472	Estimate of unique patients	July 2022	Betsi Cadwaladr
6,357	Estimate of unique patients	July 2022	Powys
68,207	Estimate of unique patients	July 2022	Hywel Dda
101,521	Estimate of unique patients	July 2022	Aneurin Bevan
102,770	Estimate of unique patients	July 2022	Cardiff & Vale
85,393	Estimate of unique patients	July 2022	Cwm Taf Morgannwg
80,341	Estimate of unique patients	July 2022	Swansea Bay
588,553	Estimate of unique patients	August 2022	Wales

Showing 1 to 25 of 392 rows

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Metadata

The metadata for this dataset is not included when you download the data. You can download this separately. This contains all the information from the 'About this dataset' tab.

Next update expected:23 July 2026

Updates

• 18th June 2026:

  New month added

• 21st May 2026:

  New month added

• 23rd April 2026:

  New month added

• 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

• 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 April 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.

• Related reports:
  • NHS activity and performance summary (English)
  • NHS activity and performance summary: quality report (English)
  • NHS activity and performance summary (Welsh)
  • NHS activity and performance summary: quality report (Welsh)

Published by

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