Referral to treatment (RTT) data for August 2026, published 8 October 2026 · Page updated 2 November 2026

Plastic surgery waiting times: NHS trusts ranked

How long patients on the plastic surgery waiting list had waited at each NHS trust in England at the end of August 2026, from NHS England referral to treatment (RTT) statistics. Plastic surgery covers reconstructive surgery of the skin and soft tissues, for example removing skin cancers, hand surgery and repair after injury. Trusts are ranked from the shortest median wait to the longest.

Past figures, not a promise. These are NHS England figures for patients who were already on the waiting list at the end of August 2026: how long they had waited so far. They are not a forecast or a guarantee of how long a new patient will wait, and waits can change quickly. Waiting Times UK is an independent website, not part of the NHS, and this is not medical advice.

Plastic surgery: summary

At the end of August 2026, 74 NHS trusts in England had at least 20 pathways waiting for plastic surgery. Their median waits so far ranged from 3.7 weeks at The Christie to 24.6 weeks at Liverpool University Hospitals; the England median was 14.0 weeks. 48 of the 74 trusts had a median at or below the England figure. The share waiting under 18 weeks ranged from 31.5% to 98.9% (England 59.4%); 5 trusts met the 92% standard. 22 trusts had no plastic surgery pathways waiting over 52 weeks; the most was 853 at Mid and South Essex.

Which NHS trusts have the shortest plastic surgery waits?

Select a column heading to sort, or filter by NHS England region. Each trust links to its own plastic surgery page with the trend and nearby trusts. To put two to four trusts next to each other, use the side-by-side comparison.

Plastic surgery: NHS trusts in England ranked by median wait, end of August 2026
Rank	Trust	Region	Median weeks waited	Under 18 weeks	92nd percentile weeks	Pathways waiting	Over 52 weeks	Over 52 weeks (% of list)
1	The Christie NHS Foundation Trust	North West	3.7	98.9%	13	175	0	0.0%
2	University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust	North West	5.0	95.3%	14	86	0	0.0%
3	Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	South East	5.8	90.5%	27	21	0	0.0%
4	East Cheshire NHS Trust	North West	6.5	96.8%	15	31	0	0.0%
5	Airedale NHS Foundation Trust	North East and Yorkshire	6.7	92.4%	18	66	0	0.0%
6	George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust	Midlands	6.9	87.6%	24	161	1	0.6%
7	The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust	London	7.0	82.0%	27	50	1	2.0%
8	Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust	London	7.2	78.3%	39	23	1	4.3%
9	The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust	Midlands	7.4	79.3%	29	121	0	0.0%
10	Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	South West	7.5	80.3%	33	132	2	1.5%
11	The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust	East of England	7.6	75.9%	47	58	0	0.0%
12	Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust	North West	7.7	75.1%	38	904	10	1.1%
=13	King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust	London	7.9	76.8%	33	56	3	5.4%
=13	Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	Midlands	7.9	67.3%	47	153	6	3.9%
15	University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust	Midlands	8.0	78.2%	32	459	5	1.1%
=16	Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust	London	8.4	91.7%	19	315	0	0.0%
=16	Somerset NHS Foundation Trust	South West	8.4	87.7%	22	219	0	0.0%
=18	University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust	Midlands	8.6	75.5%	33	1,314	2	0.2%
=18	East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust	East of England	8.6	72.7%	40	3,327	63	1.9%
20	Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust	South East	8.7	78.1%	26	192	0	0.0%
21	Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust	North East and Yorkshire	9.0	75.6%	30	1,847	4	0.2%
22	Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust	Midlands	9.2	67.4%	40	95	2	2.1%
23	Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust	North East and Yorkshire	9.3	79.0%	29	3,260	0	0.0%
24	Bristol NHS Foundation Trust	South West	9.5	68.6%	38	2,881	26	0.9%
=25	Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	North West	9.6	73.7%	31	247	0	0.0%
=25	The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust	Midlands	9.6	66.6%	40	2,115	4	0.2%
27	London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust	London	9.7	93.0%	18	43	0	0.0%
28	The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	North East and Yorkshire	10.0	68.9%	38	1,335	5	0.4%
29	Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust	South East	10.2	77.4%	29	292	0	0.0%
30	Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust	South West	10.3	73.9%	34	2,014	18	0.9%
=31	Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust	South West	10.4	71.5%	31	1,252	12	1.0%
=31	North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust	East of England	10.4	69.4%	39	1,420	14	1.0%
33	St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	London	10.7	69.6%	35	1,535	5	0.3%
34	South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	North East and Yorkshire	10.9	69.5%	41	2,147	50	2.3%
=35	Wye Valley NHS Trust	Midlands	11.0	67.5%	37	357	1	0.3%
=35	County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust	North East and Yorkshire	11.0	65.1%	44	1,582	46	2.9%
37	University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust	Midlands	11.3	66.1%	37	816	3	0.4%
38	East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust	East of England	11.5	69.0%	40	323	0	0.0%
39	Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	East of England	11.8	64.2%	39	2,140	3	0.1%
40	University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust	Midlands	11.9	63.1%	39	556	2	0.4%
41	Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust	Midlands	12.0	62.9%	47	1,042	48	4.6%
=42	Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	North East and Yorkshire	12.4	66.4%	33	1,046	0	0.0%
=42	James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	East of England	12.4	62.5%	34	152	0	0.0%
44	Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust	North East and Yorkshire	12.7	64.3%	33	529	0	0.0%
45	Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust	South East	13.2	62.6%	46	417	14	3.4%
46	Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust	London	13.7	62.1%	38	3,274	18	0.5%
=47	Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust	South East	14.0	60.3%	44	6,137	159	2.6%
=47	Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust	North East and Yorkshire	14.0	59.6%	45	2,760	125	4.5%
49	Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust	South East	14.2	59.9%	36	1,513	0	0.0%
50	York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	North East and Yorkshire	14.3	61.9%	40	252	4	1.6%
51	Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	South East	14.4	59.5%	40	1,908	16	0.8%
52	Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	East of England	15.0	58.1%	41	1,633	5	0.3%
53	Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust	Midlands	15.1	60.9%	33	675	1	0.1%
54	Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust	North West	15.4	55.0%	47	1,359	54	4.0%
=55	Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust	London	15.6	57.3%	38	2,041	2	0.1%
=55	Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	North West	15.6	55.4%	43	4,376	15	0.3%
57	Barts Health NHS Trust	London	15.8	55.7%	48	1,351	67	5.0%
58	Croydon Health Services NHS Trust	London	16.2	59.5%	55	84	7	8.3%
59	Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust	London	16.4	54.0%	35	189	1	0.5%
60	University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust	Midlands	16.8	53.6%	45	1,238	40	3.2%
=61	Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust	London	17.1	51.9%	49	3,076	148	4.8%
=61	West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust	East of England	17.1	51.9%	43	807	9	1.1%
=63	The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	London	17.2	55.6%	32	27	0	0.0%
=63	Whittington Health NHS Trust	London	17.2	52.8%	40	144	0	0.0%
65	Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust	North West	17.8	50.6%	47	8,821	319	3.6%
=66	Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust	North West	18.6	48.6%	49	5,768	265	4.6%
=66	Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust	London	18.6	48.5%	46	4,080	156	3.8%
68	Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	East of England	19.0	47.0%	47	1,442	55	3.8%
69	Bolton NHS Foundation Trust	North West	19.8	46.1%	56	786	89	11.3%
70	Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust	South East	19.9	45.8%	44	2,618	11	0.4%
71	South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust	Midlands	20.7	44.0%	51	457	33	7.2%
72	Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust	East of England	21.0	44.3%	58	7,067	853	12.1%
73	Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust	North East and Yorkshire	22.6	43.9%	61	4,942	728	14.7%
74	Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	North West	24.6	31.5%	42	181	0	0.0%

Rank 1 is the shortest median wait; “=” marks a tie. Only NHS trusts with at least 20 plastic surgery pathways waiting and a published median are ranked, the same rule as on each trust’s specialty page. Independent-sector providers that treat NHS patients are not ranked. England: median 14.0 weeks, 59.4% under 18 weeks, 109,605 pathways waiting, 3,575 over 52 weeks.

How do NHS England regions compare for plastic surgery?

Plastic surgery by NHS England region, end of August 2026
Region	Trusts ranked	Shortest median	Region: under 18 weeks	Region: pathways waiting
London	15	The Royal Marsden (7.0 weeks)	57.0%	16,430
South East	8	Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals (5.8 weeks)	58.4%	13,645
South West	5	Great Western Hospitals (7.5 weeks)	72.7%	6,871
Midlands	14	George Eliot Hospital (6.9 weeks)	65.1%	9,587
East of England	10	The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn (7.6 weeks)	56.2%	18,374
North West	11	The Christie (3.7 weeks)	52.9%	22,811
North East and Yorkshire	11	Airedale (6.7 weeks)	64.7%	21,887

The last two columns are a Waiting Times UK calculation: we add up NHS England’s figures for every NHS and independent provider in the region with this specialty. Medians cannot be added up, so the region columns show the share under 18 weeks rather than a median.

What do these measures mean?

Median weeks waited: half the pathways on the list had waited this long or less so far, at the end of the month.
Under 18 weeks: the share of the list that had waited less than 18 weeks (the NHS standard is 92%). Pathways with an unknown start date are left out, as NHS England does.
92nd percentile: 92% of pathways had waited this many weeks or less.
Pathways waiting: the size of the list. A pathway is one patient’s wait for one specialty; a person can be on more than one list.
Over 52 weeks: pathways that had waited more than a year.

NHS England publishes these figures for each trust as a whole, not for each hospital. A trust can run several hospitals, so the site you are treated at may have a different wait. A trust is shown for a specialty only if at least 20 pathways were waiting. Specialist trusts, and trusts that take complex referrals from elsewhere, are not like for like with general hospitals.

Can I choose a hospital with a shorter wait?

In England you have a legal right to start consultant-led, non-urgent treatment within 18 weeks of referral, with some exceptions, and you can usually choose where you are referred for a first outpatient appointment. Each hospital has a Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) that can help with questions about your wait. Your waiting time rights explained.

Not medical advice. If your symptoms change or get worse while you wait, contact your GP or the team treating you. If it is not an emergency, NHS 111 online or calling 111 can tell you where to go, including urgent treatment centres, which often have shorter waits. Call 999 or go to A&E for life-threatening emergencies such as chest pain, difficulty breathing, severe bleeding or signs of a stroke.

More comparisons

Rankings for other specialties

How should I cite these figures?

Waiting Times UK, “Plastic surgery waiting times: NHS trusts ranked”, NHS England RTT data for August 2026, https://waitingtimesuk.co.uk/compare/specialty/plastic-surgery (accessed [date]). Where possible, cite the official publisher too.

Who wrote this page and where do the figures come from?

Written and maintained by the Waiting Times UK editorial team at Oaknest Media Ltd, an independent publisher that is not part of the NHS. Every figure is taken from an official publication, shown with its date, and linked below; where we add up or compare figures ourselves we say so. This page has not been reviewed by a clinician and is not medical advice. Page last updated 2 November 2026, from the data files named below. Figures change when the publisher releases new data.

NHS England: Referral to treatment waiting times (August 2026, published 8 October 2026)

Official statistics are reproduced under the Open Government Licence v3.0. See data sources and methods and about Waiting Times UK.

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