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

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Next update expected:20 November 2025

Updates

10th November 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 August 2025

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

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

Published by

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