Referral to treatment (RTT) data for August 2026, published 8 October 2026 · A&E data for September 2026, published 8 October 2026 · Diagnostics (DM01) data for August 2026, published 8 October 2026 · Page updated 1 November 2026
NHS waiting times in the East of England
In August 2026, 61.0% of 874,494 pathways at providers in the NHS England East of England region had waited under 18 weeks for treatment (England 65.2%). In September 2026, 74.0% of A&E attendances there ended within four hours (England 74.4%), and in August 2026, 29.3% of MRI waits were over six weeks.
How does the East of England compare with England?
| Measure | East of England | England | Data month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waiting for treatment (RTT pathways) | 874,494 | 7,189,213 | August 2026 |
| Waited under 18 weeks | 61.0% | 65.2% | August 2026 |
| Waited over 52 weeks | 2.6% | 1.6% | August 2026 |
| A&E within 4 hours (all types) | 74.0% | 74.4% | September 2026 |
| A&E within 4 hours (type 1) | 61.8% | 60.6% | September 2026 |
| MRI waits over 6 weeks | 29.3% | 22.0% | August 2026 |
| CT waits over 6 weeks | 10.4% | 11.2% | August 2026 |
| Talking Therapies: started within 6 weeks (of those finishing) | 81.0% | 83.4% | August 2026 |
Regional RTT figures are a Waiting Times UK calculation (provider figures added up by integrated care board region). Other figures are as published by NHS England.
How do hospital trusts in the East of England compare?
| Trust | RTT waiting | % under 18 wks | Median wks | MRI % over 6 wks | Cancer 28-day % | Cancer 62-day % | A&E 4-hr % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 86,990 | 59.7% | 14.4 | 33.4% | 76.7% | 61.4% | 74.5% |
| Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 60,401 | 65.6% | 11.7 | 30.9% | 82.9% | 75.1% | 68.5% |
| East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust | 95,346 | 60.5% | 13.5 | 31.6% | 72.6% | 64.7% | 75.7% |
| East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust | 57,636 | 65.2% | 12.1 | 27.4% | 65.6% | 79.5% | 72.4% |
| James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 31,209 | 61.5% | 13.6 | 56.4% | 76.5% | 65.6% | 66.0% |
| Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust | 165,277 | 50.4% | 17.8 | 31.1% | 64.3% | 55.1% | 69.6% |
| Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 38,530 | 59.3% | 14.4 | 7.1% | 83.7% | 60.2% | 70.2% |
| Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | 66,059 | 63.5% | 13.2 | 12.5% | 76.0% | 72.4% | 79.8% |
| North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust | 75,563 | 60.2% | 13.9 | 35.0% | 82.2% | 73.4% | 66.8% |
| Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | 5,955 | 80.6% | 8.8 | 74.7% | 16.7%* | 78.9%* | – |
| The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust | 40,233 | 67.1% | 12.3 | 11.4% | 71.8% | 61.2% | 77.6% |
| The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust | 23,666 | 64.7% | 12.0 | 17.2% | 72.5% | 65.0% | 64.8% |
| West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | 44,408 | 69.1% | 12.0 | 3.9% | 86.7% | 80.6% | 87.2% |
| West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust | 32,866 | 64.6% | 12.3 | 7.2% | 74.9% | 78.7% | 81.7% |
n/s: no RTT data submitted. *: fewer than 20 patients. More measures on the compare page.
How long are waits for treatment in each integrated care board area?
| Integrated care board | Waiting | % under 18 wks | Over 52 wks |
|---|---|---|---|
| NHS Central East Integrated Care Board | 396,110 | 63.3% | 4,957 |
| NHS Essex Integrated Care Board | 317,798 | 56.3% | 14,584 |
| NHS Norfolk and Suffolk Integrated Care Board | 160,586 | 64.4% | 3,484 |
Waits at providers whose parent ICB is in this area, which can include patients from elsewhere.
How quickly can people get a GP appointment in the East of England?
| Integrated care board | Appointments | Same day | Within 14 days | Over 28 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NHS Central East Integrated Care Board | 1,950,038 | 47.6% | 81.3% | 6.4% |
| NHS Essex Integrated Care Board | 1,025,765 | 45.3% | 81.5% | 5.2% |
| NHS Norfolk and Suffolk Integrated Care Board | 1,077,198 | 41.4% | 73.7% | 9.9% |
Booking to appointment, practice systems only. More: GP appointment waits.
More: ADHD and autism waits by area, operations by specialty, cancer waits and all regions.
What are my rights while I 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.
Frequently asked questions
Are NHS waiting times in the East of England better than the England average?
It depends on the measure. In August 2026, 61.0% of pathways in the East of England were within 18 weeks, against 65.2% for England. The table above compares several measures.
Which trusts are in this region?
The 14 NHS acute trusts that NHS England places in its East of England region are listed above. Trusts also treat patients from neighbouring areas.
Why are regional waiting list figures a calculation?
NHS England publishes waiting lists by provider and by commissioner. We add up provider figures by each provider’s integrated care board region, so totals can differ slightly from other regional figures.
How should I cite these figures?
Waiting Times UK, “NHS waiting times in the East of England”, NHS England data for August 2026 (A&E September 2026), https://waitingtimesuk.co.uk/regions/east-of-england (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 1 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)
- NHS England: A&E attendances (September 2026)
- NHS England: Diagnostics (DM01) (August 2026)
- NHS England: Cancer waiting times (provisional)
- NHS England: Appointments in General Practice (September 2026)
- NHS England: NHS Talking Therapies (August 2026)
- Method for regional and ICB RTT figures: ICB and NHS England region figures are sums of the published provider-level RTT counts, grouped by the provider's parent ICB and that ICB's NHS England region (calculated by Waiting Times UK). Activity counts are sums from the NHS England RTT full CSV extract.
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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