NHS Lothian inpatient waiting times

Information on inpatient and day case waiting times in NHS Lothian

What these statistics show

The following is shown for each specialty:

  • how many patients were admitted for treatment 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 Lothian

Cardiology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 786

Median waiting time: 

  • 8 weeks
Clinical Oncology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 116

Median waiting time: 

  • 2 weeks
Community Dental Practice

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 24

Median waiting time: 

  • 22 weeks
Gastroenterology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 96

Median waiting time: 

  • 3 weeks
Gynaecology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 727

Median waiting time: 

  • 6 weeks
Medical Oncology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 199

Median waiting time: 

  • 2 weeks
Ophthalmology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 1773

Median waiting time: 

  • 11 weeks
Orthopaedics

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 1274

Median waiting time: 

  • 50 weeks
Paediatric Surgery

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 208

Median waiting time: 

  • 19 weeks
Plastic Surgery

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 916

Median waiting time: 

  • 7 weeks
Rheumatology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 33

Median waiting time: 

  • 3 weeks
Cardiothoracic Surgery

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 212

Median waiting time: 

  • 6 weeks
Clinical Radiology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 26

Median waiting time: 

  • 4 weeks
Ear, Nose and Throat

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 495

Median waiting time: 

  • 21 weeks
General Surgery

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 1783

Median waiting time: 

  • 7 weeks
Haematology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 219

Median waiting time: 

  • 1 week
Neurosurgery

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 223

Median waiting time: 

  • 10 weeks
Oral Surgery

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 22

Median waiting time: 

  • 62 weeks
Paediatric Dentistry

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 224

Median waiting time: 

  • 12 weeks
Paediatrics

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 38

Median waiting time: 

  • 1 week
Respiratory Medicine

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 60

Median waiting time: 

  • 6 weeks
Urology

Number of patients admitted for treatment:

  • 763

Median waiting time: 

  • 12 weeks

Help and support with waiting times

Your local health board can provide further information on waiting times. You can also contact them if you have any queries around your waiting time.

Contact NHS Lothian on:

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