Waiting times in the NHS App

Patients will see that they are on a waiting list and an estimated waiting time for their hospital treatment.  

The waiting time to treatment methodology used within the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS) reflects the mean (average) waiting time. This aligns e-RS with the approach used in the My Planned Care Patient Portal. 

Patients are shown two data points: the date of their referral and the estimated month that their first treatment will take place. 

The waiting time shown is the (mean) average of all patients waiting within the specialty at the trust.  

Some patients will wait less time than the average and some patients will wait longer than the average waiting time. Patients are managed based on clinical urgency and therefore waiting times can vary depending on each patient's clinical condition. 

The average waiting time for treatment may include a procedure or treatment in an inpatient or outpatient setting. 

Patients can already see information regarding their estimated waiting time in the NHS App: within the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS) Manage Your Referral, when a patient selects their clinic, they are shown information regarding their first appointment and the mean (average) waiting time to start treatment. However, after this screen, a patient was no longer able to view this information as they continue their care journey. 

The new waiting times feature continues to present the patient information stating they are on a waiting list at their provider and the estimated waiting time for treatment to ensure that patients are provided with a continued and consistent experience in the NHS App. 

The NHS App is using waiting list information from the Waiting List Minimum Data Set (WLMDS) and waiting times from My Planned Care (MPC). The WLMDS is the combined list of patients on waiting lists reported. MPC is based on data provided by each trust. The waiting time shown is the average (mean) of all patients waiting for treatment within the specialty at each trust.

Data is updated weekly based on trust updates to WLMDS and MPC data, meaning the patient’s expected treatment date, based on average waiting time, may move based on updates to trust data.