First, try Right to Choose. Second, check if you already have insurance. Third, only pay yourself if the wait is doing real harm to your life, you can comfortably afford it, and you have done full checks.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about NHS waits + your options

Q: How do I use Right to Choose?

Three steps: compare waits at your local NHS hospital against other hospitals; tell your GP at your next appointment which hospital you would prefer; take a pre-filled letter to your GP appointment.

Q: Can my GP refuse my Right to Choose request?

Only on clinical grounds. They cannot refuse for non-clinical reasons. If your GP refuses for non-clinical reasons, contact NHS England (0300 311 22 33) or your local Healthwatch.

Q: Why don't more patients use Right to Choose?

NHS England's data shows fewer than 0.5% of eligible referrals use Right to Choose. Most patients do not know it exists.

Clear answers to the questions patients ask most. For deeper reading on any topic, see /insights.

Reviewed by Mustafa Ghafouri (MBChB, MSc) · Last reviewed: 7 May 2026

Using HospitalWaits

What is HospitalWaits?: HospitalWaits.co.uk is a free, independent tool that lets you compare NHS waiting times. Built by Doctor Data Ltd. You can compare waits across 538 NHS hospitals and 18 specialties using monthly NHS England Referral-to-Treatment (RTT) data.
Is it free?: Yes. HospitalWaits is free for patients, GPs, and journalists. We do not collect personal data. You do not need to log in. We do not charge for any feature.
Where does the data come from?: All NHS waiting-time data is from NHS England's monthly Referral-to-Treatment (RTT) release. It is published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Hospital details come from the NHS Organisation Data Service (ODS). Postcodes are turned into map coordinates by postcodes.io. Every number on the site links to its NHS source.
How often is the data updated?: Once a month. NHS England usually publishes RTT data on the 2nd Thursday of the month, covering the prior month. Our pipeline picks it up within 24 hours.

NHS Right to Choose

What is NHS Right to Choose?: Under the NHS Constitution, every patient in England has the legal right to pick any NHS hospital that offers their treatment, for their first outpatient appointment. The official policy is on nhs.uk. The NHS Choice Framework is the legal source.
How do I use Right to Choose?: Three steps. First, compare waits at your local NHS hospital against others you can travel to — use HospitalWaits or NHS England's RTT data. Second, tell your GP at your next appointment that you want to be referred to the hospital with the shorter wait. Third, take a printable letter to your GP — HospitalWaits has a generator at /gp-letter that fills in your details for you.
Can my GP refuse my Right to Choose request?: Only on clinical grounds. For example, an emergency that needs the nearest centre. Or a special pathway only your local hospital runs. They cannot refuse for non-clinical reasons such as admin or pressure on the hospital. If your GP refuses for non-clinical reasons, call NHS England on 0300 311 22 33 or contact your local Healthwatch.
Why don't more patients use Right to Choose?: Most do not know it exists. NHS England's own data shows fewer than 0.5% of eligible referrals use Right to Choose. Many GPs do not raise it. The data needed to make a confident choice has been hard to find. HospitalWaits exists to fix that last bit.

Going private

Should I go private?: It depends on your situation. A general framework: First, try Right to Choose. Switching NHS hospitals is free and often gives a much shorter wait. Second, check if you already have insurance — many people have private medical insurance (PMI) through work or a partner and do not know. Third, only consider paying yourself if the wait is doing real harm to your life, you can comfortably afford it, and you have done full checks on the consultant and hospital. Full framework at /insights/when-private-makes-sense.
How much does private surgery cost?: The 'from' price you see often sits 20% to 40% below the real final bill. A hip replacement quoted at £14,000 often ends up at £17,000 to £19,000. See /insights/what-private-surgery-actually-costs for realistic ranges across 10+ procedures and how to get a quote you can trust.
Do I have private medical insurance?: More often than you might think — and you may not know it. Five places worth checking: your employer's benefits portal; your partner's policy; your email inbox for the words 'policy schedule' or insurer names; health-cash plans like Simply Health or HSF; add-ons to other insurance you already have. See /insurance-cover for the full guide.
Can I take out PMI now to cover my current wait?: Usually no. Almost all standard PMI policies exclude pre-existing conditions. 'Moratorium' underwriting usually needs a 2-year symptom-free period before the policy covers a condition. For your current wait, focus on Right to Choose and paying yourself if you can. For future cover, speak to a Defaqto-rated independent broker.

Trust + integrity

Who built HospitalWaits?: Mustafa Ghafouri (MBChB, MSc). He is a medically trained data scientist with 10+ years across the NHS, pharma, and digital health. He is Head of Data Science at Pharmacy2U and Director of Doctor Data Ltd. He is an NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Fellow. He is medically trained but not currently in clinical practice, and is not GMC-registered. That is why the site uses his real credentials (MBChB, MSc, and his 10-year track record) rather than the 'Dr' title or any clinical-practitioner framing. HospitalWaits.co.uk is the first consumer product from Doctor Data Ltd, his UK Limited company.
Are you affiliated with the NHS?: No. HospitalWaits is independent. We have no link to NHS England, NHS Digital, or any NHS hospital. We use NHS open data under the Open Government Licence v3.0, but we are not part of the NHS.
Are you funded by private healthcare companies?: No. From late 2026, we may accept sponsored placements from private hospital groups and affiliate links to PMI insurers. We will make these clear and loud — the Money Saving Expert and BMJ pattern. They will never change our editorial analysis or how we work out the numbers. Full disclosure standard at /sponsorship-policy. We have publicly committed to a yearly editorial-independence audit.
Is this medical advice?: No. HospitalWaits gives general information, not medical advice. Mustafa is medically trained but not currently in clinical practice and is not GMC-registered. He is not your doctor or anyone's doctor. Anything on the site that sounds like a clinical recommendation is general information only. For advice on your own case, speak to your GP, your consultant, or your specialist nurse.

When things go wrong

My NHS operation got cancelled at short notice. What can I do?: Under the NHS Constitution, if your operation is cancelled at short notice for non-clinical reasons, you are entitled to one of three things. A new date within 28 days. Or treatment at another NHS hospital paid for by the NHS. Or treatment at a private hospital paid for by the NHS if neither of the above is possible. Step by step: ask your consultant's secretary to confirm the cancellation reason in writing. If there is no new date within 14 days, contact PALS, your MP, and your local Healthwatch. Full guide at /insights/what-to-do-when-op-cancelled.
I've been waiting more than 52 weeks. What are my options?: 52+ weeks is past the NHS legal RTT standard. That is a breach of the NHS Constitution. Use every escalation route: your hospital's PALS; your local MP; your local Healthwatch; NHS England on 0300 311 22 33; a formal written complaint. Also use Right to Choose to switch to a hospital with a shorter wait. If you have private medical insurance (PMI), check what it covers. The decision-support panel on every hospital × specialty page has the steps for 52+ week waits.
How do I escalate a complaint about my NHS hospital?: First, contact your hospital's PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service). You will find the contact on the hospital's NHS website page. If it is not resolved within 25 working days, file a formal written complaint to the hospital's complaints team. By law they must respond. For continued issues, contact your local Healthwatch (the independent patient-voice body set by statute), your MP, and NHS England on 0300 311 22 33.

Question not answered here? Email mustafa@doctor-data.co.uk. Better answer? We'll publish corrections per our editorial policy.

Using HospitalWaits

What is HospitalWaits?

HospitalWaits.co.uk is a free, independent tool that lets you compare NHS waiting times. Built by Doctor Data Ltd. You can compare waits across 538 NHS hospitals and 18 specialties using monthly NHS England Referral-to-Treatment (RTT) data.

Is it free?

Yes. HospitalWaits is free for patients, GPs, and journalists. We do not collect personal data. You do not need to log in. We do not charge for any feature.

Where does the data come from?

All NHS waiting-time data is from NHS England's monthly Referral-to-Treatment (RTT) release. It is published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Hospital details come from the NHS Organisation Data Service (ODS). Postcodes are turned into map coordinates by postcodes.io. Every number on the site links to its NHS source.

How often is the data updated?

Once a month. NHS England usually publishes RTT data on the 2nd Thursday of the month, covering the prior month. Our pipeline picks it up within 24 hours.

NHS Right to Choose

What is NHS Right to Choose?

Under the NHS Constitution, every patient in England has the legal right to pick any NHS hospital that offers their treatment, for their first outpatient appointment. The official policy is on nhs.uk. The NHS Choice Framework is the legal source.

How do I use Right to Choose?

Three steps. First, compare waits at your local NHS hospital against others you can travel to — use HospitalWaits or NHS England's RTT data. Second, tell your GP at your next appointment that you want to be referred to the hospital with the shorter wait. Third, take a printable letter to your GP — HospitalWaits has a generator at /gp-letter that fills in your details for you.

Can my GP refuse my Right to Choose request?

Only on clinical grounds. For example, an emergency that needs the nearest centre. Or a special pathway only your local hospital runs. They cannot refuse for non-clinical reasons such as admin or pressure on the hospital. If your GP refuses for non-clinical reasons, call NHS England on 0300 311 22 33 or contact your local Healthwatch.

Why don't more patients use Right to Choose?

Most do not know it exists. NHS England's own data shows fewer than 0.5% of eligible referrals use Right to Choose. Many GPs do not raise it. The data needed to make a confident choice has been hard to find. HospitalWaits exists to fix that last bit.

Going private

Should I go private?

It depends on your situation. A general framework: First, try Right to Choose. Switching NHS hospitals is free and often gives a much shorter wait. Second, check if you already have insurance — many people have private medical insurance (PMI) through work or a partner and do not know. Third, only consider paying yourself if the wait is doing real harm to your life, you can comfortably afford it, and you have done full checks on the consultant and hospital. Full framework at /insights/when-private-makes-sense.

How much does private surgery cost?

The 'from' price you see often sits 20% to 40% below the real final bill. A hip replacement quoted at £14,000 often ends up at £17,000 to £19,000. See /insights/what-private-surgery-actually-costs for realistic ranges across 10+ procedures and how to get a quote you can trust.

Do I have private medical insurance?

More often than you might think — and you may not know it. Five places worth checking: your employer's benefits portal; your partner's policy; your email inbox for the words 'policy schedule' or insurer names; health-cash plans like Simply Health or HSF; add-ons to other insurance you already have. See /insurance-cover for the full guide.

Can I take out PMI now to cover my current wait?

Usually no. Almost all standard PMI policies exclude pre-existing conditions. 'Moratorium' underwriting usually needs a 2-year symptom-free period before the policy covers a condition. For your current wait, focus on Right to Choose and paying yourself if you can. For future cover, speak to a Defaqto-rated independent broker.

Trust + integrity

Who built HospitalWaits?

Mustafa Ghafouri (MBChB, MSc). He is a medically trained data scientist with 10+ years across the NHS, pharma, and digital health. He is Head of Data Science at Pharmacy2U and Director of Doctor Data Ltd. He is an NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Fellow. He is medically trained but not currently in clinical practice, and is not GMC-registered. That is why the site uses his real credentials (MBChB, MSc, and his 10-year track record) rather than the 'Dr' title or any clinical-practitioner framing. HospitalWaits.co.uk is the first consumer product from Doctor Data Ltd, his UK Limited company.

Are you affiliated with the NHS?

No. HospitalWaits is independent. We have no link to NHS England, NHS Digital, or any NHS hospital. We use NHS open data under the Open Government Licence v3.0, but we are not part of the NHS.

Are you funded by private healthcare companies?

No. From late 2026, we may accept sponsored placements from private hospital groups and affiliate links to PMI insurers. We will make these clear and loud — the Money Saving Expert and BMJ pattern. They will never change our editorial analysis or how we work out the numbers. Full disclosure standard at /sponsorship-policy. We have publicly committed to a yearly editorial-independence audit.

Is this medical advice?

No. HospitalWaits gives general information, not medical advice. Mustafa is medically trained but not currently in clinical practice and is not GMC-registered. He is not your doctor or anyone's doctor. Anything on the site that sounds like a clinical recommendation is general information only. For advice on your own case, speak to your GP, your consultant, or your specialist nurse.

When things go wrong

My NHS operation got cancelled at short notice. What can I do?

Under the NHS Constitution, if your operation is cancelled at short notice for non-clinical reasons, you are entitled to one of three things. A new date within 28 days. Or treatment at another NHS hospital paid for by the NHS. Or treatment at a private hospital paid for by the NHS if neither of the above is possible. Step by step: ask your consultant's secretary to confirm the cancellation reason in writing. If there is no new date within 14 days, contact PALS, your MP, and your local Healthwatch. Full guide at /insights/what-to-do-when-op-cancelled.

I've been waiting more than 52 weeks. What are my options?

52+ weeks is past the NHS legal RTT standard. That is a breach of the NHS Constitution. Use every escalation route: your hospital's PALS; your local MP; your local Healthwatch; NHS England on 0300 311 22 33; a formal written complaint. Also use Right to Choose to switch to a hospital with a shorter wait. If you have private medical insurance (PMI), check what it covers. The decision-support panel on every hospital × specialty page has the steps for 52+ week waits.

How do I escalate a complaint about my NHS hospital?

First, contact your hospital's PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service). You will find the contact on the hospital's NHS website page. If it is not resolved within 25 working days, file a formal written complaint to the hospital's complaints team. By law they must respond. For continued issues, contact your local Healthwatch (the independent patient-voice body set by statute), your MP, and NHS England on 0300 311 22 33.