NHS waiting times - stage of treatment
Inpatients, day cases and new outpatients

About this release

Following the transition from quarterly, this is the third monthly release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) focusing on the length of time patients wait to be seen as a new outpatient or admitted for treatment as an inpatient or day case. It is also the third release applying the NHSScotland waiting times guidance published by the Scottish Government in December 2023 and implemented by PHS in July 2025. These latest statistics up to 30 November 2025 cover all patients waiting for an appointment or procedure as well as those seen and removed from a waiting list covered by the national standards. Individual patients are counted more than once if they are waiting to attend more than one scheduled hospital appointment or admission, so the official statistics shown here do not reflect the actual number of individuals involved. These statistics are however supplemented with an estimate on the number of individuals waiting.

Infographic of an overview of latest statistics on waiting list activity for NHS Scotland from November 2023 to November 2025 for key indicators including attendances/admissions, ongoing waits and waits over 52 weeks for new outpatients and inpatients and day cases.

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Overview of latest statistics on waiting list activity, NHS Scotland, up to 31 November 2025

Main points

• At 30 November 2025, there were an estimated 605,051 individuals on at least one new outpatient, inpatient or day case waiting list. This is equivalent to around 1 in 9 of Scotland’s population (mid-2024 estimates). Within this total, 477,587 individuals were estimated to be waiting for a new outpatient appointment, and 150,373 for an inpatient or day case admission.

New outpatients national standard - 95% of new outpatients should wait no longer than 12 weeks from referral to being seen

• During November 2025 there were 113,161 attendances at a new outpatient clinic, with 59.7% of these waits completed in 12 weeks or less, a decrease from 61.9% in October. In 2025/26 to date, there have been 887,347 attendances, up 32,560 compared to the same eight months in 2024/25.
• At 30 November 2025, the number of ongoing waits decreased by 3.3% to 532,279 compared to the end of the previous month and by 6% compared to 30 November 2024. Of these ongoing waits, 43.3% were for 12 weeks or less.
• The number of waits over 52 weeks has reduced each month since 31 July 2025 and at 30 November 2025 there were 44,363, down 6,492 from the end of October. Of these, 5,009 waits had exceeded two years, a decrease of 843 from the end of October and the third consecutive monthly decrease.

Treatment Time Guarantee - following the decision to treat, all eligible patients should wait no longer than 12 weeks for treatment as an inpatient or day case

• During November 2025 there were 23,293 inpatient and day case admissions, with 57.4% completed within 12 weeks of the treatment being agreed, a decrease from 58.2% in October. In 2025/26 to date, there have been 181,363 admissions, up 8,165 compared to the same eight months in 2024/25.
• At 30 November 2025, the number of ongoing waits for treatment was 155,789, down 0.9% from the end of October and down 0.9% compared to 30 November 2024. Of these ongoing waits, 37.5% were for 12 weeks or less.
• The number of waits over 52 weeks has reduced each month since 31 July 2025 and at 30 November 2025 there were 25,846, down 1,199 from the end of October. Of these, 4,380 had exceeded two years, a decrease of 526 from the end of October. Waits over two years have also reduced each month since 31 July 2025.

Background

The waiting times section of the website provides further information relating to the supply, quality assurance and reporting of waits, as well as links to the latest national guidance set by the Scottish Government.

Further information

As outlined above, PHS has now increased the frequency of this publication from quarterly to monthly, reflecting high levels of public interest in the statistics. It is the third release of waiting times statistics following the implementation of the NHSScotland waiting times guidance, published by Scottish Government in December 2023 and implemented by PHS in July 2025. The statistics are now aligned to the revised waiting time clock adjustment rules, the impact of which is referenced in the report, with further detail available via the PHS impact assessment - 2023 waiting times guidance. This contains analysis based of statistics published on 28th October 2025.

The next release of this publication will be 3 February 2026.