Waiting times

· The number of patients, for whom English commissioners are responsible, waiting over 9 months at the end of June 2005 was 16. Of these 16, 6 were English residents waiting in Welsh hospitals.

· At the end of June, of the 16 waiting over 9 months, 3 patients for whom English commissioners are responsible were waiting over 12 months.

· The number of patients, for whom English commissioners are responsible, waiting over 6 months at the end of June 2005 was 43,200, a decrease of 6,400 (13.0%) from May, and a fall of 31,600 (42.3%) from June 2004.

Waiting lists

· The total number of patients waiting to be admitted to NHS hospitals in England at the end of June 2005 was 823,900; a fall of 2,300 (0.3%) since the end of May 2005, and a fall of 61,800 (7.0%) since June 2004.

Related link
Download NHS waiting list and waiting times information (PDF, 22K)

Statistical Notes

1. Inpatient waiting lists

Waiting list information is collected from English Primary Care Trusts on a responsible population basis (see note on next page) and from NHS Trusts on a hospital basis.

In interpreting the figures it should be noted that about half of patients (not including live babies) treated in hospitals are emergency cases and do not come from the waiting lists.

This publication contains waiting list information on patients who are waiting to be admitted for treatment either as a day case or ordinary admission. It does not include:

- patients admitted as emergency cases

- outpatients

- patients undergoing a planned programme of treatment e.g. a series of admissions for chemotherapy

- expectant mothers booked for confinement

- patients already in hospital but included on other waiting lists

- patients who are temporarily suspended from waiting lists for social reasons or because they are known to be not medically ready for treatment

Waiting times begin from the date the clinician decided to admit the patient. Patients subsequently offered a date but unable to attend have their waiting times calculated from the most recent date offered. These are known as self-deferred cases and are included in the total waiting.

The tables include an element of estimation and incorporate all returns and amendments received from Primary Care Trusts and NHS Trusts up to 28th July 2005.

2. Hospital and Commissioner based lists

There are fundamental differences in coverage between commissioner based and hospital based information. Commissioner based returns exclude all patients living outside England and all privately funded patients waiting for treatment in NHS hospitals. However they do include NHS funded patients, living in England, who are waiting for treatment in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, abroad, and at private hospitals; these patients are not included in the corresponding hospital based returns. Historically there has been a 1% to 3% difference in the overall size of the waiting lists reported for NHS hospital trusts and English residents, the trust-based figure being the larger.

The differences are summarised in the diagram which can be accessed via the link below.

Commissioner based returns reflect responsible based populations, which is defined as:

Responsible Population:

- all those patients resident within the PCT boundary; plus

- all patients registered with GPs who are members of the PCT, but are resident in another PCT; minus

- All patients resident in the PCT, but registered with a GP who is a member of another PCT

3. Publication Dates

In the past monthly waiting list/times outputs have been published on the Friday of the 5th full week following the end of the reporting month or the Friday of the 6th full week following quarter end. This formula has been reviewed following improvements in the timeliness of collecting NHS Hospital waiting data.

The new formula will be "first Friday on or after the 20th working day after reporting month end". This formula delivers improvements to the publication timetable that benefits all users of this information while maintaining Friday as the normal publication day.

These dates can be found on both the DH 12 month plan for statistical releases and on the Office for National Statistics Updates calendar.

4. Estimates

The data shown above includes some imputed data. If necessary, the dataset will be refreshed in line with the revisions protocol below.

5. Revisions

Revisions to previous months data are made in line with the Department of Health's revisions protocol for performance monitoring data. A copy of the protocol is attached at Annex A.

6. Additional Information

Full details of waiting lists and times for individual organisations are available from the address below, or the DH website via the link below.

Waiting Times Analysis
Department of Health
Room 4E57
Quarry House
Quarry Hill
Leeds LS2 7UE
Annex A - Revisions Protocol for Performance Monitoring Data

This revision protocol relates to the NHS performance monitoring data collected and disseminated by the Performance and Planning Review Team (PPRT) in the Department of Health. The range of information covered is currently collected in the returns and disseminated in the statistical publications listed at Annex A.

Dissemination: The publication of revised data will be via a statistical press notice every 6 months, released in line with the Department's release policy.

Timing:

We will publish significant revisions to the data on a six monthly basis to dates that will be included in the DH Statistics 12-month publication plan.

Any significant revisions received after the revision period has closed ie 48 hours before publication, will generally not be disseminated until the next scheduled revision.

Historic data:

Revisions will relate usually to the 6 months prior to the revisions publication date. In exceptional circumstances revisions will go further back, if not doing so would materially distort the historical time series. Revisions to individual trusts and PCTs will be reflected in the England and SHAs' totals

Explanations for revisions:

We would expect SHAs to validate the explanations for revisions to data as this is consistent with their validation of the revisions themselves. This would only apply to NHS organisations that have a management relationship with the SHA. For revisions due to departmental error the explanation would be cleared through the appropriate departmental channels. An explanation of the reasons for the changes will be published in an Annex alongside the revised data.

Effects of revisions will accompany the release:

The impact of revisions on Departmental targets will be released along side the revisions.

Decisions about revisions:

Final decisions about publishing revised data will be taken by senior professional DH analysts, consulting the DH Statistics Head of Profession on both the nature and presentation of revisions. The normal pre-release procedure will apply to revisions. Processes will evolve over time as experience refines the requirements for implementing this new policy.

This policy is compatible with the Departmental compliance statement with the National Statistics Code of Practice and Protocols, and with the National Statistics protocol on Data Revisions.