Almost half of adults on NHS waiting lists rate the wait as poor, ONS finds

Almost half of adults in England who say they are on an NHS hospital waiting list rate their experience of waiting as poor, according to Office for National Statistics data published on 8 October 2026. In wave 28 of the Health Insight Survey, collected between 18 August and 9 September 2026, 45.6 per cent of people on a waiting list rated their overall experience of waiting as poor and 21.5 per cent as good. Some 17.0 per cent of respondents said they were on a hospital waiting list.

What the survey found

Information is the weakest point. Of those waiting, 45.3 per cent said they had received no information at all while on the list. Some 39.5 per cent had confirmation that the hospital had received their referral, 13.1 per cent had been told what to do if their condition got worse, 9.9 per cent had information on managing their condition and 3.9 per cent had information or support on managing their mental health. Nearly two thirds, 64.1 per cent, did not know when to expect their appointment or treatment; among those who did, 29.4 per cent had been offered a choice of date and time.

Validation checks have reached only a minority of longer waiters. Among people waiting three months or more, 58.5 per cent said they had not been asked whether they still needed their hospital appointment; 35.2 per cent had received at least one message, by letter, text, email or the NHS App, and 7.6 per cent had spoken to someone. Of everyone on a list, 15.9 per cent said they had been waiting more than 12 months, 40.9 per cent between three and 12 months and 41.3 per cent less than three months.

Satisfaction with communication has barely moved. In this wave 43.8 per cent of people on a waiting list were dissatisfied with communication about their wait and 26.9 per cent satisfied, against 42.9 per cent and 28.0 per cent in the equivalent weeks of 2025. In the first wave, in July and August 2024, 47.4 per cent were dissatisfied. Asked what would improve their experience, 58.1 per cent chose shorter waiting times, 52.0 per cent more regular updates, 40.4 per cent confirmation of their place on the list and 23.9 per cent a choice of when or where appointments take place.

Choice at referral is limited too. Some 9.4 per cent of adults said their GP practice had referred them to a specialist in the previous 28 days; of these, 24.3 per cent said they were offered a choice of hospital. Separately, 10.1 per cent of adults said they were waiting for an NHS community health service such as community nursing, podiatry or physiotherapy.

How the data were collected, and what they do not show

The Health Insight Survey is a longitudinal survey of adults aged 16 and over in England, run by the ONS for NHS England since July 2024. Wave 28 had 89,772 respondents, with 16,262 people on a waiting list answering the experience questions, and results are weighted to adjust for differences in response between demographic groups; the ONS classes them as official statistics in development.

The answers are self-reported, and the ONS warns that survey estimates of how many people use services, including the share on a waiting list, should not be confused with administrative sources such as NHS England’s Waiting List Minimum Data Set. Response is skewed by age: fewer than 4 per cent of sampled 16 to 24-year-olds responded, against more than 44 per cent of 65 to 74-year-olds, although results are weighted. People on more than one list answered about one. The survey does not ask hospital waiters whether their condition changed while waiting, and does not record whether they paid for private treatment. The year-on-year change in dissatisfaction with communication lies within the published confidence intervals. The ONS released this wave as a dataset without a commentary bulletin; its latest bulletin, on 10 September 2026, covered wave 27.

Our reading

Analysis by The Healthcare Daily.

• For NHS trusts, the survey points to gains from better communication as well as from added capacity. With 45.3 per cent of people waiting given no information and 58.5 per cent of those waiting three months or more never asked if they still need their appointment, systematic validation could improve experience and remove from the lists people who no longer need treatment.
• Suppliers of patient communication, validation and NHS App messaging tools have a measurable market: 52.0 per cent of people on lists want more regular updates and 40.4 per cent want confirmation that they are on the list at all. Flat satisfaction since 2025 suggests current tools are not reaching most patients.
• For independent providers, the finding that only 24.3 per cent of recently referred patients recall being offered a choice of hospital matters, because choice at referral is one of the routes by which NHS-funded elective work reaches the independent sector. Weak choice offers may limit that flow whatever capacity providers add.
• For private hospitals and insurers, 15.9 per cent of people on lists waiting more than a year and 45.6 per cent rating the wait as poor describe a pool of potential self-pay and insured demand. Because the survey does not measure switching to private care, it indicates potential rather than realised demand.
• Boards and investors should read survey and administrative data together. The ONS cautions against equating them, and the survey’s older respondent base means younger patients’ experience is less well captured.