Health Services: Standards

There is no formal national policy supporting minimum waits in the National Health Service. However, the NHS Standard Contract allows local commissioners to set activity planning assumptions to plan demand, capacity, and expenditure.

It is important to note that minimum waiting times must not be applied to urgent or urgent suspected cancer referrals, and must be below 18 weeks.

The NHS Constitution is clear that the 18-week standard refers to the full treatment pathway, and does not prevent patients from being seen within that period for diagnostic tests and outpatient appointments as required before the start of any treatment.

NHS England does not collect information on which integrated care boards (ICBs) have implemented minimum waiting time policies, the use and impact of minimum waiting time policies across ICBs, or the procedures, treatments, or clinical pathways for which minimum waiting time policies have been applied.

All trusts are expected to have their own safeguards to ensure that patients waiting for planned care are triaged, and that appointments take place according to clinical priority and the length of time patients have waited, avoiding risk of serious complications.