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

Rheumatology waiting times: NHS waiting list by hospital in England

What does the rheumatology waiting list count?

The NHS Data Dictionary describes rheumatology (treatment function 410) as the investigation, management and rehabilitation of people with a wide range of disorders of the musculoskeletal system, covering the joints and other parts of the body that allow movement, the bones, connective tissues and blood vessels. NHS England reports code 410 on its own line, so these figures are for rheumatology services only.

These are referral to treatment (RTT) figures. NHS England counts people referred for non-emergency, consultant-led treatment, from referral until treatment starts, whether or not they need an operation. A pathway is one person’s wait for one specialty, so one person can be counted more than once. The figures are for hospitals in England only; NHS England does not publish waits for individual operations or conditions within a specialty.

Sources: NHS England: RTT statistics user guidance, definitions, quality and methodological information (October 2026); NHS England Data Dictionary: main specialty and treatment function codes.

How long is the NHS rheumatology waiting list in England?

Rheumatology was the 13th largest of 18 specialty lists in August 2026, with 1.6% of all 7,189,213 pathways. Its median wait so far of 10.9 weeks was shorter than the 12.2 weeks for all specialties together, and 0.9% of its pathways had passed a year, against 1.6% overall. The 92nd percentile was 35 weeks: 8 in 100 rheumatology pathways had waited longer than that. Of the 24,148 rheumatology pathways that ended in August 2026, 5.3% ended with a hospital admission, while 27,954 new ones started.

Has the rheumatology waiting list changed since February 2026?

The rheumatology list grew by 4,121 pathways (3.6%) from 114,276 in February 2026 to 118,397 in August 2026, compared with a 0.5% rise in the waiting list for all specialties. It went up in 4 and down in 2 of the 6 monthly steps; the biggest rise was March 2026 to April 2026 (112,400 to 115,478). Waits of over a year rose from 779 to 1,070; the median wait so far fell from 11.7 weeks to 10.9 weeks; the share waiting under 18 weeks rose from 67.3% to 70.4%.

Among the 113 NHS trusts ranked here that also reported in February 2026, the rheumatology list grew most at Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (672 to 1,836) and fell most at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (1,707 to 1,077).

The NHS England files do not give reasons for changes, so we do not suggest any.

How do rheumatology waits vary by region?

Midlands had the highest share of its rheumatology list under 18 weeks (76.3%) and South East the lowest (63.5%). Midlands had the most people waiting, 22,351 or 18.9% of the regional total, and South East the largest share waiting over a year (2.5%). North East and Yorkshire had the most ranked trusts (20) and South West the fewest (9).

Regional figures are our sums of the trust figures, including independent providers. A regional median cannot be worked out from the published counts, so the last column shows the range of trust medians. Where a region has only one or two ranked trusts, its figure mostly reflects those hospitals.

Which NHS trusts have the shortest and longest median rheumatology waits?

Of the 47 NHS trusts with at least 1,000 rheumatology pathways, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust had the shortest median wait so far, 6.4 weeks with 1,218 waiting, and Medway NHS Foundation Trust the longest, 29.4 weeks with 3,226 waiting.

The median is how long half the people on a trust’s list had waited so far, so a short median on a small list can change a lot from month to month.

How long are rheumatology waits at each NHS trust?

113 NHS trusts had at least 20 rheumatology pathways waiting and a published median. The largest lists were at Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (4,780), University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (3,891) and Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust (3,450), and the five largest trust lists held 15.8% of everyone waiting at NHS trusts. 20 of the 113 met the 92% 18-week standard for rheumatology, and 77 had nobody waiting over a year. 3 other NHS trusts had smaller lists or no published median.

Of the 1,070 rheumatology pathways over a year in England, 656 (61.3%) were at Medway NHS Foundation Trust (330), Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (231) and County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (95).

Trusts are grouped by region and listed A to Z. Use the last column for each trust’s own page, search by postcode, or get every provider in the CSV download.

Which independent providers treat NHS rheumatology patients?

7 independent-sector providers had at least 50 NHS-funded rheumatology pathways waiting; the largest was Cora Health MSK (Formerly Connect Health Ltd) with 1,467. Their figures cover NHS patients only, not people paying privately.

How does rheumatology compare with trauma and orthopaedics?

People looking at rheumatology waits often also look at trauma and orthopaedics, the surgical specialty for bones and joints. In August 2026 the trauma and orthopaedics list had 851,183 pathways, a median wait so far of 13.9 weeks and 60.9% under 18 weeks, against 10.9 weeks and 70.4% for rheumatology. See Trauma and orthopaedics waiting times in England.

What can these figures not tell you?

Rheumatology lists are usually local, but some trusts also run specialist services that take referrals from further away, so a trust’s rheumatology figure is not a like-for-like comparison with a small local hospital.

• Figures are for the whole trust, not a single hospital site, clinic or consultant.
• They show how long people already on the list had waited so far, not how long a new referral will take, and urgent referrals are usually seen sooner than the median.
• Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland publish their own figures, which are not compared here: see Public Health Scotland (open data at opendata.nhs.scot), StatsWales and the Welsh Government NHS activity and performance summary, the Department of Health (Northern Ireland) hospital waiting times statistics.

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.

Where can I find more?

• Every NHS trust ranked for rheumatology
• Compare rheumatology waits at two to four hospitals
• Rheumatology waits near your postcode
• Operation and treatment waits for every specialty
• How long does an NHS referral take?

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.