NHS Scotland Waiting Times - Current Performance and Official Sources

7th January 2026

Waiting times remain one of the most significant pressures facing NHS Scotland.

Despite clear national standards designed to ensure timely access to care, performance across elective treatment, diagnostics, cancer services, and emergency care continues to fall short of targets.

Official statistics published by the Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland provide the most reliable evidence of current performance and trends. This essay summarises the latest position using those official sources, with direct links included for access to the underlying data.

NHS Scotland Waiting Time Standards

NHS Scotland operates under nationally defined waiting time standards set by the Scottish Government. These standards are intended to guarantee timely access to healthcare and form the benchmark against which performance is measured.

The core standards include a maximum 12-week wait for new outpatient appointments, a maximum 12-week wait for inpatient or day-case treatment once a decision to treat has been made, and a 6-week maximum wait for key diagnostic tests such as MRI, CT scans, and endoscopy. Full details of these standards are set out on the Scottish Government's official waiting times policy page:
https://www.gov.scot/policies/healthcare-standards/waiting-times/

Although these standards remain official policy, they have not been consistently met for several years.

Elective Care and Stage of Treatment Waiting Times

The most comprehensive official source for elective care waiting times is the Stage of Treatment Waiting Times publication produced by Public Health Scotland. This dataset covers new outpatient appointments, inpatient admissions, and day-case treatments, and includes both national and NHS board-level data.

The most recent release, published in January 2026 and covering data up to November 2025, shows that hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland remain on waiting lists for planned care. Performance against the 12-week standard remains well below target, with fewer than two-thirds of patients being seen within the required timeframe.

The full report, including downloadable board-level data for NHS Highland and other boards, is available here:
https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-waiting-times-stage-of-treatment/stage-of-treatment-waiting-times-inpatients-day-cases-and-new-outpatients-6-january-2026/

These figures also demonstrate that long waits remain a persistent problem, with many patients waiting over 52 weeks and a significant number waiting more than two years for treatment.

Diagnostic Waiting Times

Diagnostic waiting times are measured separately against a national standard requiring patients to wait no longer than six weeks for key tests. These include MRI scans, CT scans, endoscopy, ultrasound, and several other core diagnostic procedures.

Public Health Scotland publishes regular official statistics on diagnostic waiting times. The most recent release, covering waits up to November 2025, indicates that the six-week diagnostic standard continues to be missed nationally, with substantial backlogs remaining.

The latest diagnostics report, including downloadable tables that allow analysis by NHS board (including NHS Highland), can be accessed here:
https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-waiting-times-diagnostics/diagnostic-waiting-times-waits-for-key-diagnostic-tests-25-november-2025/

Delays in diagnostics often have a cascading effect, as many patients cannot progress to treatment without test results.

Cancer Waiting Times

Cancer waiting times in Scotland are monitored against two principal standards: a 31-day standard from decision to treat to first treatment, and a 62-day standard from urgent referral with suspicion of cancer to first treatment.

Official reporting on cancer waiting times is published by the Scottish Government as part of NHS Scotland’s performance against Local Delivery Plan standards. These reports show that the 62-day standard has been consistently missed in recent years, both nationally and across most NHS boards.

The official cancer waiting times performance pages are available here:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/nhsscotland-performance-against-ldp-standards/pages/cancer-waiting-times/

While these reports focus primarily on national performance, they provide essential context for understanding systemic pressures affecting cancer care.

Accident and Emergency Waiting Times

Emergency care waiting times are measured against the national standard that 95 per cent of patients attending Accident and Emergency departments should be admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours.

Performance against this standard has been persistently poor across Scotland. NHS Highland, in particular, has experienced extended A&E waiting times in recent years.

Official A&E waiting time statistics are published by the Scottish Government and can be accessed here:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/nhsscotland-performance-against-ldp-standards/pages/accident-and-emergency-waiting-times/

These statistics highlight ongoing pressures related to hospital capacity, delayed discharge, and workforce shortages.

Other Official Waiting Time Publications

Public Health Scotland also publishes a range of service-specific waiting time statistics that provide further insight into pressures across the healthcare system. These include reports on cancelled planned operations, 18-week referral-to-treatment performance, IVF waiting times, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

Statistics on cancelled planned operations, including NHS board-level data, are available here:
https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/cancelled-planned-operations/

Information on 18-week referral-to-treatment waiting times can be found here:
https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-waiting-times-18-weeks-referral-to-treatment/

These publications help illustrate how delays extend beyond headline waiting lists and affect patient journeys throughout the system.

Accessing NHS Highland Data

For users seeking NHS Highland-specific figures, Public Health Scotland provides downloadable Excel and CSV files alongside most waiting time publications. These allow filtering by NHS board and analysis of ongoing waits, completed waits, and long waits across different services.

All of the key publications referenced above include NHS Highland data within their board-level breakdowns, making them the most authoritative sources for local analysis.

Official data from the Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland shows that waiting times across NHS Scotland remain significantly above national standards. Despite periodic improvements, long waits for elective treatment, diagnostics, cancer care, and emergency services continue to affect large numbers of patients. The linked publications provide transparent, regularly updated evidence of these challenges and remain essential resources for understanding both national performance and the specific experience of NHS Highland.