Hospitals will be able to address unfair elective waits for working class and minority patients as new data published today shows those from deprived communities are more likely to wait longer.

Data published for the first time ever by the NHS show patients in the poorest communities and those from an Asian or Asian British background are more likely to be waiting longer than 18 weeks than any other group.

Tackling health inequalities is at the heart of the 10 Year Health Plan which set out how people living in working class and deprived communities will benefit from billions of pounds of funding diverted from other areas.

The rollout of neighbourhood health centres will first be targeted at the places where healthy life expectancy is lowest, including deindustrialised cities and coastal towns, reducing the estimated £240-330 billion cost of sickness to the economy.

The NHS is also at the heart of tackling economic inactivity with Further Faster 20 teams tackling waiting lists in the areas most affected, employment advisers in back pain clinics, and health and growth accelerators assessing the economic benefits of various health interventions.

People from traditionally working-class communities, ethnic minorities and those who often struggle to find work will be supported onto the NHS career ladder, with £5 million of investment to recruit 1,000 people from groups or areas worst hit by unemployment.

The government is already providing faster access to treatment through its Plan for Change, having delivered over 4.6 million extra elective care appointments, delivering over 6.5 million extra diagnostic tests and scans, and cutting the overall waiting list by over 260,000 since July 2024.

The NHS committed to publishing the data as part of its Elective care reform plan, as part of a move to make the NHS the most transparent health system in the world.

The waiting list figures are broken down by age, sex, ethnicity, and deprivation levels, supporting local NHS services to address unfair variation in patient care.

The data shows:

• More than half (56%) of the overall waiting list is made up of people of working age [19 to 64]. A third (33%) of those waiting are aged 65 and over, with 11% aged 18 or under.
• The largest specialty for those on the waiting list aged 18-64 is gynaecology (12% of all 18–64-year-olds). The largest specialty for those aged 65+ is ophthalmology (14% of over 65s).
• Working age individuals are slightly more likely to be waiting over 18 weeks than under 18s or over 65s.
• For pathways where sex is recorded, women make up a higher percentage of the waiting list (57%) compared to men (43%). Women are more likely to be waiting over 18 and 52 weeks than men.

Stella Vig, NHS National Clinical Director for Elective Care, said: “Understanding patient demographics is vital if we are to identify and tackle the way different groups are treated which is why I am delighted we are publishing this data for the first time today, providing greater transparency of NHS services.

“As well as allowing patients and the public to see the makeup of local lists, NHS teams will be able to analyse the latest data, understand where there is unwarranted variation in waiting times, and work with their communities to take action to reduce it.

“Whether it is the work of our specialist teams supporting the areas of highest economic inactivity, employment support in back pain clinics, or targeted interventions to help cut missed appointment rates, this data will be invaluable in boosting the targeted work we are already delivering to reduce both inequalities and waiting times”.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting said: “We inherited an NHS which after years of neglect had left all patients worse off – but some more than others.

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Only by being upfront and shining a light on inequalities can we begin to tackle the problem. We will give all patients the care they need when they need it as part of our Plan for Change.

“Our 10 Year Health Plan will tackle health inequalities faced across the country, diverting billions of pounds to working class communities, and providing truly targeted, bespoke care to all patients where they live via the Neighbourhood Health Service”.

Daniel Elkeles, Chief Executive of NHS Providers, said: “Tackling health disparities is rightly front and centre in the 10 Year Health Plan.

“Breaking down waiting list figures by age, sex, ethnicity, and deprivation levels is a welcome, much-needed step to help NHS trusts identify and tackle deep-rooted differences in the way groups of patients are treated”.

Professor Habib Naqvi, Chief Executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory, said: “We welcome publication of waiting list data by ethnicity and other characteristics including age, sex, and deprivation. This is a great step in making ethnic health inequities more visible.

“Without robust, consistent data and transparency about what’s happening in the healthcare system, we will not be able to enable genuine equitable decision making in the NHS, nor tackle and eradicate ethnic and racial inequalities in health in a sustained and meaningful way”.

Sharon Brennan, Director of Policy and External Affairs, National Voices said: “The 10 Year Plan places a great emphasis on patient experience and transparency of data, and this data release is the first step to seeing that approach becoming more widespread across the NHS.

“By understanding the demographics of who is waiting longer, trusts can take actions to reduce those who are unfairly waiting longer than others – this might be as simple as offering to help people get to appointments or ensuring people understand that they have choice over where to be treated.

“Being honest with the public about the impact of health inequalities on waiting times is an important step to winning back the trust of communities who often feel unheard and sometimes unwanted”.

Professor Ranee Thakar, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “We welcome the publication of detailed elective recovery data as a vital step in addressing the postcode lottery in gynaecology care. At the moment, women in the most deprived areas face some of the longest waits, threatening to entrench existing health inequalities.

“Delays can lead to a need for more complex treatment and significantly impact women’s health, wellbeing, and daily lives. We know that our members are working tirelessly to deliver more appointments and so it is encouraging to see waiting lists begin to fall in recent months.

“Accurate and transparent data will enable the NHS to best identify inequalities, design more equitable services and drive targeted reductions in long waiting lists”.

The NHS is making more services more conveniently available through the NHS App, with translation services in multiple languages, to ensure everyone can access the treatment they need regardless of race or background.

Local NHS providers are being asked to use the data to analyse and understand potential inequalities in their waiting lists and take steps to address them. Trusts will build evidence-based plans to put addressing inequalities at the heart of efforts to cut waiting lists.

It will also support trusts to put in place targeted measures to improve health while waiting – increasing the likelihood of positive outcomes, lowering the risk of cancellations and any productivity loss.

Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust used an AI tool to predict the likelihood of children attending their outpatient appointment, identifying patients in more deprived communities and homes where English was not the first language were at highest risk of missing appointments. Conversations with children and their families identified transport was one of the main causes, so the trust introduced pre-paid parking and funded travel via public transport. This increased appointment attendances by 65 over a 3-week period, saving £7,800 in non-wasted clinical time.

Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board found that people in areas of lower socio-economic groups were more likely to have their operation cancelled or experience poor surgical outcomes due to ill health. The local team introduced the ‘Set for Surgery’ prehab pilot for 200 patients offering over the phone health coaching, a directory of resources, and other advice to improve their health ahead of a procedure. This led to better outcomes and a reduction in on-the-day cancelations.

Background

• The new data is published on the NHS England website.
• Each patient demographic is independent so does not show intersectionality. For example, you can see how many women are waiting and how many over 65s, but not the number of women over 65.
• The figures use the latest weekly management information and run up until 29 June. Going forward, this data will be published as part of the monthly performance statistics.
• The national level data includes categories for NHS other and independent sector providers, while lower-level geography data sets show figures for NHS acute trusts only.