Surgery: Waiting Lists
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of regional variations in elective waiting times for patients aged over 65.
Answered by Karin Smyth
No specific assessment has been made of the trends in the level of regional variations in elective waiting times for patients aged over 65 years old.
For the week ending 29 March 2026, regional performance for patients aged over 65 years old varies by 7.9%, with the North East and Yorkshire being the highest at 68.3% of ages 65 years old and over referral to treatment (RTT) waiting within 18 weeks, compared with the East of England lowest at 60.4%. The following table shows the regional waiting times data, as of March 2026, for patients aged over 65 years old:
Region | Total Waiting List | Up to 18 weeks | % Within 18 weeks |
East of England | 291,905 | 176,385 | 60.40% |
London | 332,315 | 219,555 | 66.10% |
Midlands | 368,180 | 230,485 | 62.60% |
North East and Yorkshire | 289,230 | 197,425 | 68.30% |
North West | 297,680 | 191,000 | 64.20% |
South East | 327,960 | 204,700 | 62.40% |
South West | 224,465 | 152,095 | 67.80% |
Source: Waiting List Minimum Data Set, NHS England.
A link to the published demographic archive of Waiting List Minimum Dataset data, published for the first time in from June 2025, can be found at the following link:
A breakdown of RTT performance by age is not available in the aggregate monthly official statistics. The Waiting List Minimum Dataset is weekly management information and is subject to less validation than the monthly official statistics.
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