Allied health professionals – musculoskeletal waiting times in NHSScotland
Quarterly and monthly data to 31 March 2025
Official statistics
- Published
- 24 June 2025 (Latest release)
- Type
- Statistical report
- Author
- Public Health Scotland
About this release
This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides an update on how long patients wait for a first outpatient appointment at Allied Health Professional (AHP) led Musculoskeletal (MSK) services. The Scottish Government has determined that at least 90% of patients should wait no longer than four weeks to be seen from receipt of referral.
Main points
- There were 107,865 referrals to AHP MSK services during the quarter ending 31 March 2025, an increase of 0.9% compared to the quarter ending 31 March 2024 (106,914 referrals).
- Since 2021, there has been a slight upward trend in the average monthly number of referrals received each year. During 2021, this was 28,437, rising to 31,802 in 2022, 34,934 in 2023 and 36,131 in 2024. The average number of monthly referrals in the first quarter of 2025 is similar to the 2024 figure at 35,955.
- During the quarter ending 31 March 2025, 77,583 patients were seen at a first AHP MSK outpatient appointment, an increase of 1.6% from a year ago during the quarter ending 31 March 2024 (76,395).
- As with referrals, there has been a general upward trend in the number of patients seen at AHP MSK services. During 2021, the average number of patients seen each month was 19,137, rising to 22,564 in 2022, 25,469 in 2023 and 26,583 in 2024. The average in the first quarter of 2025 is slightly less than the 2024 figure at 25,861.
- Of the 77,583 patients seen during the quarter ending 31 March 2025, 47.6% were seen within the target of four weeks of referral, lower than the rate of 51.3% in 2022, 52.3% in 2023 and 49.8% in 2024. Of those patients who experienced longer waits, 6.3% waited more than 24 weeks to be seen in the quarter ending 31 March 2025, compared to 7.8% in 2022, 5.4% in 2023 and 8.8% in 2024.
- At the end of the quarter on 31 March 2025, 74,370 patients were waiting to be seen, a decrease of 4.3% compared to a year ago on 31 March 2024 (77,735 patients). Of those waiting to be seen, 39.0% had been waiting 4 weeks or less, 54.1% had been waiting between 5 and 24 weeks and 6.9% had been waiting more than 24 weeks.
Background
The AHP MSK data collection covers Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Podiatry and Orthotics services. It also covered the NHS24 Musculoskeletal Advice and Triage Service (MATS) service from May 2017 until it ended in March 2020. Data are sourced from the national waiting times warehouse with aggregate data submitted by NHS Boards as required. See the full report for more data quality information.
The waiting time used for this target is an adjusted waiting time, with adjustments made up to 4 weeks based on the NHSScotland waiting times guidance.
Further information
The next release of this publication will be during 30 June 2026.
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If you have an enquiry relating to this publication, please email phs.ahpmsk@phs.scot.
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Older versions of this publication
Versions of this publication released before 16 March 2020 may be found on the Data and Intelligence, Health Protection Scotland or Improving Health websites.