Website of the Department of Health

NHS inpatient and outpatient waiting times figures, 31 July 2008

The latest monthly national statistics on NHS inpatient and outpatient waitings times produced by the Department of Health were released on 29th August 2008 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority

NHS inpatient and outpatient waiting times figures for the month ending 31st July 2008 include data for England, Strategic Health Authorities, and NHS Trusts.

The key points from the latest release are:

Inpatient waiting times

• The number of patients, for whom English commissioners are responsible, waiting over the 26 weeks standard for patient admission at the end of July 2008 was 82 (compared to the total of 542,000).
• The number of patients, for whom English commissioners are responsible, waiting over 13 weeks at the end of July 2008 was 39,400, an increase of 1,800 (4.9%) from June 2008, but a fall of 45,400 (53.5%) from July 2007.

Outpatient waiting times

• The number of patients, for whom English commissioners are responsible, waiting over the 13 weeks standard for a first outpatient appointment following GP referral at the end of July 2008 was 303 (compared to the total of 862,000). Of these 303, 57 were English residents waiting for appointments in Welsh hospitals.
• The number of patients, for whom English commissioners are responsible, waiting over 8 weeks at the end of July 2008 was 35,100, an increase of 5,800 (19.8%) from June 2008, but a fall of 28,000 (44.4%) from July 2007.