NHS Scotland

Scottish waiting times, by health board

How long patients are currently waiting for a first outpatient appointment and for inpatient or day-case treatment in each NHS Scotland health board — from Public Health Scotland's official monthly statistics (May 2026).

Scotland does not have England's legal Right to Choose, so these figures are for understanding what to expect and for asking informed questions — of your GP, your board, and your representatives — rather than for switching hospitals.

Scotland overall, May 2026

Median wait so far for those still waiting: 88 days for a first outpatient appointment (496,098 people waiting), and 126 days for inpatient or day-case treatment.

Every health board

Median wait of people currently on the list (“ongoing waits”), all specialties combined. Click a board for its specialty-by-specialty breakdown.

Health board	Outpatient median	Inpatient/day-case median	Waiting >52 weeks
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	87 days	110 days	1,193
NHS Borders	94 days	101 days	192
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	100 days	123 days	382
NHS Fife	67 days	123 days	696
NHS Forth Valley	54 days	129 days	213
NHS Grampian	92 days	144 days	7,588
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	95 days	135 days	5,382
NHS Highland	81 days	85 days	1,526
NHS Lanarkshire	94 days	134 days	1,942
NHS Lothian	82 days	111 days	6,472
NHS Orkney	68 days	116 days	11
NHS Shetland	63 days	90 days	43
NHS Tayside	87 days	164 days	4,614
NHS Western Isles	39 days	39 days	2

About these figures

“Median” here is the midpoint wait so far of people still on the list at month end — half have waited longer already.
Scottish “stage of treatment” waits measure the outpatient and treatment stages separately, so they are not comparable with English referral-to-treatment figures. Details on our methodology page.
“Not published” means Public Health Scotland withheld or qualified the figure — it never means zero.
Source: Public Health Scotland, Stage of Treatment Waiting Times (Open Government Licence).

Scottish waiting times, by health board

Every health board

Median wait of people currently on the list (“ongoing waits”), all specialties combined. Click a board for its specialty-by-specialty breakdown.

Health board	Outpatient median	Inpatient/day-case median	Waiting >52 weeks
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	87 days	110 days	1,193
NHS Borders	94 days	101 days	192
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	100 days	123 days	382
NHS Fife	67 days	123 days	696
NHS Forth Valley	54 days	129 days	213
NHS Grampian	92 days	144 days	7,588
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	95 days	135 days	5,382
NHS Highland	81 days	85 days	1,526
NHS Lanarkshire	94 days	134 days	1,942
NHS Lothian	82 days	111 days	6,472
NHS Orkney	68 days	116 days	11
NHS Shetland	63 days	90 days	43
NHS Tayside	87 days	164 days	4,614
NHS Western Isles	39 days	39 days	2

About these figures

“Median” here is the midpoint wait so far of people still on the list at month end — half have waited longer already.

Scottish “stage of treatment” waits measure the outpatient and treatment stages separately, so they are not comparable with English referral-to-treatment figures. Details on our methodology page.

“Not published” means Public Health Scotland withheld or qualified the figure — it never means zero.

Source: Public Health Scotland, Stage of Treatment Waiting Times (Open Government Licence).