For journalists
Press kit + media contact
HospitalWaits is run by a medically trained data scientist with 10+ years across the NHS, pharma, and digital health. Quotes, charts, and methodology are all on the record.
Direct line
Mustafa Ghafouri (MBChB, MSc) — medically trained data scientist; Director, Doctor Data Ltd; Head of Data Science at Pharmacy2U; NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Fellow. Not currently in clinical practice.
- Email: mustafa@doctor-data.co.uk
- Background: /about · Methodology: /methodology
Happy to provide quotes, custom data cuts, charts, or commentary. Same-day response Mon–Fri for breaking RTT stories.
What we have
- 17 months of RTT data (October 2024 → February 2026) — full weekly-band distribution, not just headline numbers
- 538 trusts × 18 specialties = ~50,000 trust × specialty × month rows, queryable
- Distance-aware ranking via PostGIS — "shortest wait within X miles of postcode Y"
- National + per-trust trend charts over 12 months
Story angles this month
The five biggest NHS waiting lists right now (data through March 2026):
- Trauma and Orthopaedic Service — 826,172 on the list across 309 trusts; national median 12 weeks.
- Ophthalmology Service — 603,966 on the list across 345 trusts; national median 7 weeks.
- Ear Nose and Throat Service — 580,054 on the list across 174 trusts; national median 13 weeks.
- Gynaecology Service — 555,528 on the list across 198 trusts; national median 12 weeks.
- Urology Service — 378,188 on the list across 221 trusts; national median 10 weeks.
Every national specialty page has a 12-month trend chart and the full ranked list of trusts — ready to screenshot and cite.
When we publish
NHS England releases monthly RTT data on the second Thursday of each month at 09:30 UK time. Our automated pipeline ingests the new month within 24 hours and the site reflects it after the next ISR refresh (typically within 1 hour).
Email mustafa@doctor-data.co.uk to be added to the monthly release-day mailing list — you'll get the headline numbers + 2-3 story angles before the page is live.
Quoting + attribution
Cite as: "HospitalWaits, hospitalwaits.co.uk — analysis of NHS England RTT data."
All NHS data on this site is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. You're free to reproduce charts and figures with attribution.
Methodology is fully documented at /methodology — including how median wait is calculated, how distance is computed, and known V1 limitations.
Independence
HospitalWaits is independent. We have no affiliation with NHS England, NHS Digital, or any NHS organisation. We are not funded by any healthcare provider. Editorial private hospital listings shown on the site are pulled from publicly available pricing guides; no commercial relationship exists with those providers in V1. Future paid partnerships will be clearly labelled "Sponsored" per our public /sponsorship-policy.
About Doctor Data Ltd (boilerplate for citations)
Doctor Data Ltd is a UK healthcare data company founded by Mustafa Ghafouri (MBChB, MSc), a medically trained data scientist (currently Head of Data Science at Pharmacy2U; NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Fellow; not currently in clinical practice). Doctor Data Ltd builds evidence-based tools for patients, journalists, and NHS organisations to make better-informed decisions about UK healthcare. HospitalWaits.co.uk is its first consumer product. Registered in England.
Web: doctor-data.co.uk · Press contact: mustafa@doctor-data.co.uk
For data queries beyond what's on the site (custom regional cuts, historical analysis >17 months, derivative metrics), email mustafa@doctor-data.co.uk — usually a same-day turnaround for journalists on deadline.