NHS Scotland outpatient waiting times

Information on new outpatient waiting times for NHS Scotland

What these statistics show

The following is shown for each specialty:

how many patients were seen at an outpatient clinic between 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023
median wait – one simple way of explaining this is that roughly half of patients waited less than the median and half of patients waited longer

More information on these statistics

These statistics relate to the wait experienced by patients from 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023 who were:

seen at a new outpatient appointment, or
admitted for treatment

About the median wait

The median wait aims to provide the typical length of time patients waited to be seen and complete their wait. This is provided for each health board and speciality so that you can get information on the ones relevant to you.

For patients currently on a waiting list, some will have waited less than the median and others will have waited longer. This'll have been partly influenced by a clinical decision on the urgency of care required.

The wait experienced by patients may vary from the median for a number of reasons, including the:

clinical need of the individual
availability of services
number of patients waiting to be treated

During the pandemic services were often under pressure and only patients with urgent care needs could be treated. This was reflected in shorter median waits. More patients who had their wait delayed are now being seen but waiting time statistics will most likely continue to fluctuate as boards address the backlog of patients waiting for care whilst managing ongoing challenges on capacity.

About the statistics

These statistics are collated and quality assured by Public Health Scotland.

If your waiting time isn't shown here, please visit the Public Health Scotland website for the full release of national statistics. You can also contact your local health board for further information.

These statistics were gathered from national data on patients who completed their wait for treatment from 1 April 2023 to 30 June 2023. The statistics for this period are displayed in weeks.

Statistics are not included if there were less than 20 patients admitted for treatment in the period. This is to make sure that the:

risk of revealing information about individual patients is minimised
number of cases is high enough to provide meaningful statistics

The next set of statistics will be published on 28 November 2023. This'll show waiting times from 1 July 2023 to 30 September 2023.

Back to waiting times home page

Waiting times in NHS Scotland

Allergy

Number of patients seen:

Median waiting time:

10 weeks

Cardiology

Number of patients seen:

11435

Median waiting time:

9 weeks

Chemical Pathology

Number of patients seen:

Median waiting time:

8 weeks

Clinical Neurophysiology

Number of patients seen:

Median waiting time:

6 weeks

Dermatology

Number of patients seen:

23359

Median waiting time:

9 weeks

Endocrinology and Diabetes

Number of patients seen:

4995

Median waiting time:

8 weeks

General Medicine

Number of patients seen:

7988

Median waiting time:

1 week

Geriatric Medicine

Number of patients seen:

4934

Median waiting time:

3 weeks

Gynaecology

Number of patients seen:

23883

Median waiting time:

7 weeks

Immunology

Number of patients seen:

Median waiting time:

10 weeks

Medical Oncology

Number of patients seen:

1539

Median waiting time:

2 weeks

Neurosurgery

Number of patients seen:

2035

Median waiting time:

9 weeks

Oral Medicine

Number of patients seen:

Median waiting time:

8 weeks

Orthodontics

Number of patients seen:

1230

Median waiting time:

18 weeks

Paediatric Dentistry

Number of patients seen:

Median waiting time:

7 weeks

Paediatrics

Number of patients seen:

9575

Median waiting time:

12 weeks

Plastic Surgery

Number of patients seen:

5474

Median waiting time:

4 weeks

Renal Medicine

Number of patients seen:

1159

Median waiting time:

6 weeks

Restorative Dentistry

Number of patients seen:

1328

Median waiting time:

16 weeks

Urology

Number of patients seen:

12824

Median waiting time:

7 weeks

Anaesthetics

Number of patients seen:

2284

Median waiting time:

9 weeks

Cardiothoracic Surgery

Number of patients seen:

Median waiting time:

3 weeks

Clinical Genetics

Number of patients seen:

Median waiting time:

6 weeks

Clinical Oncology

Number of patients seen:

4527

Median waiting time:

2 weeks

Ear, Nose and Throat

Number of patients seen:

23260

Median waiting time:

7 weeks

Gastroenterology

Number of patients seen:

10018

Median waiting time:

11 weeks

General Surgery

Number of patients seen:

42741

Median waiting time:

4 weeks

Number of patients seen:

Median waiting time:

12 weeks

Haematology

Number of patients seen:

3381

Median waiting time:

4 weeks

Infectious Diseases

Number of patients seen:

1543

Median waiting time:

2 weeks

Neurology

Number of patients seen:

7780

Median waiting time:

13 weeks

Ophthalmology

Number of patients seen:

31972

Median waiting time:

7 weeks

Oral Surgery

Number of patients seen:

3364

Median waiting time:

12 weeks

Orthopaedics

Number of patients seen:

39854

Median waiting time:

4 weeks

Paediatric Surgery

Number of patients seen:

1807

Median waiting time:

11 weeks

Palliative Medicine

Number of patients seen:

Median waiting time:

4 weeks

Rehabilitation Medicine

Number of patients seen:

Median waiting time:

2 weeks

Respiratory Medicine

Number of patients seen:

10023

Median waiting time:

10 weeks

Rheumatology

Number of patients seen:

5282

Median waiting time:

10 weeks

Keeping well

It's important that you try to keep yourself as fit and healthy as possible while you wait for your treatment. This'll give you the best chance of a good recovery afterwards.

Support for people waiting on hip and knee replacements

Further information on keeping well