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 (August 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.

Also on HospitalWaits: England (compare trusts)Wales (by health board)

Scotland overall, August 2026

Median wait so far for those still waiting: 90 days for a first outpatient appointment (506,512 people waiting), and 131 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	9 in 10 within	Inpatient/day-case median	Waiting >52 weeks
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	95 days	264 days	130 days	1,743
NHS Borders	101 days	236 days	112 days	19
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	105 days	294 days	124 days	476
NHS Fife	73 days	223 days	125 days	604
NHS Forth Valley	59 days	165 days	130 days	248
NHS Grampian	101 days	336 days	157 days	7,799
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	90 days	234 days	132 days	4,572
NHS Highland	91 days	300 days	81 days	1,599
NHS Lanarkshire	102 days	260 days	155 days	1,881
NHS Lothian	88 days	278 days	115 days	4,689
NHS Orkney	89 days	223 days	116 days	100
NHS Shetland	63 days	201 days	132 days	47
NHS Tayside	96 days	314 days	174 days	5,037
NHS Western Isles	39 days	126 days	47 days	1

Every board page breaks these down by specialty — outpatient and inpatient, median and 9-in-10 waits. See NHS Lothian as an example →

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	9 in 10 within	Inpatient/day-case median	Waiting >52 weeks
NHS Ayrshire and Arran	95 days	264 days	130 days	1,743
NHS Borders	101 days	236 days	112 days	19
NHS Dumfries and Galloway	105 days	294 days	124 days	476
NHS Fife	73 days	223 days	125 days	604
NHS Forth Valley	59 days	165 days	130 days	248
NHS Grampian	101 days	336 days	157 days	7,799
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde	90 days	234 days	132 days	4,572
NHS Highland	91 days	300 days	81 days	1,599
NHS Lanarkshire	102 days	260 days	155 days	1,881
NHS Lothian	88 days	278 days	115 days	4,689
NHS Orkney	89 days	223 days	116 days	100
NHS Shetland	63 days	201 days	132 days	47
NHS Tayside	96 days	314 days	174 days	5,037
NHS Western Isles	39 days	126 days	47 days	1

Every board page breaks these down by specialty — outpatient and inpatient, median and 9-in-10 waits. See NHS Lothian as an example →

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).