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

About this release

Following the transition from quarterly, this is the first 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 first 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 September 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 NHSScotland from September 2023 to September 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, NHSScotland, up to 30 September 2025

Main points

• At 30 September 2025, there were an estimated 628,696 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, 501,908 individuals were estimated to be waiting for a new outpatient appointment, and 150,428 for an inpatient or day case admission.

New outpatient appointments

• There were 116,776 attendances at a new outpatient clinic during September 2025, with 61.7% of these waits completed in 12 weeks or less, a decrease from 63.2% in August. In 2025/26 to date, there have been 653,805 attendances, up 25,027 compared to the same six months in 2024/25.
• At 30 September 2025, the number of ongoing waits for an appointment was 559,077, down 1.6% from end of August and down 2% compared to 30 September 2024. Of these ongoing waits, 42.2% were for 12 weeks or less.
• There were 56,439 waits over 52 weeks at 30 September 2025, down 4,425 from the end of August. While total waits over a year have decreased, the number exceeding two years increased from 6,488 to 6,663 over the latest month.

Inpatient or day case admissions

• There were 23,272 inpatient and day case admissions during September 2025, with 56.6% completed within 12 weeks of the treatment being agreed, a reduction from 58.1% in August. In 2025/26 to date, there have been 133,266 admissions, up 4,430 compared to the same six months in 2024/25.
• At 30 September 2025, the number of ongoing waits for treatment was 155,849, down 0.6% from the end of August and down 0.2% compared to 30 September 2024. Of these ongoing waits, 35.6% were for 12 weeks or less.
• There were 29,417 waits over 52 weeks at 30 September 2025, down 1,844 from the end of August. Similarly, the number exceeding two years also decreased from 6,185 to 5,793 over the latest month.

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 also the first 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 throughout the main report with further detail available via the PHS impact assessment - 2023 Waiting Times Guidance.

The next release of this publication will be 25 November 2025.