The UK areas where you’ll wait longest for NHS treatment revealed
Data shows patients living in the poorest parts of England are having to wait longer for NHS treatment than those living in wealthier areas.
There are currently more than 7 million people on the elective waiting list for non-urgent procedures, but that number needs to be reduced over the next few years to meet the government’s target of 92 percent of patients waiting no more than 18 weeks for treatment.
Although significant progress has been made towards this target and waiting times for the most and least deprived groups have narrowed slightly in some areas, the gap is still quite noticeable.
Analysis by the Health Foundation, an independent health policy charity, found huge differences in levels of abstinence and the time patients wait for elective treatments.
For example, in the poorest areas of Kent and Medway’s integrated care board (ICB), 56.8 per cent of patients were treated within 18 weeks. But in the least deprived areas, 65.9 per cent of people waited less than 18 weeks between February and April 2026.
In the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB, 57.1 per cent of patients in the poorest areas were treated within 18 weeks, compared with 64.2 per cent in the poorest areas.
Thames Valley ICB also showed a large amount of inequality; In the most deprived areas, 54.8 per cent of people were treated within 18 weeks, while in the least deprived areas the rate was 60.6 per cent.
Overall the Essex ICB had the worst waiting times; Only 47 per cent of people in the most deprived areas were treated within 18 weeks, and at least 51.1 per cent were cured. Meanwhile, patients at Gloucestershire ICB had the shortest waiting times; Approximately 70 percent of patients were cured within 18 weeks.
In April 2026, 63 percent of patients receiving elective care waited 18 weeks or less. Around 62.5 per cent of those living in the most deprived areas had been waiting 18 weeks or less, compared to 63.6 per cent of those living in the least deprived areas.
If these percentages were equal, about 7,400 fewer people in the poorest areas would have to wait longer than the 18-week standard that month, according to the Health Foundation.
The government has met its interim target of ensuring that fewer than 35 per cent of patients will have to wait longer than 18 weeks for treatment by March 2026. However, the government is still trying to increase this figure to 8 percent by the end of the parliament.
Daniel Law, director of analysis at the Health Foundation, said: “Our analysis shows that although overall waiting times for elective care have improved, inequalities in waiting times between people in the most and least deprived areas persist.
“Sharing lessons from high-performing regions and improving data quality will be vital to ensure progress reaches every part of the country. If the government is to achieve its aim of restoring the 18-week standard by the end of this parliament, improvements need to be felt fairly.”
The NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care have been contacted for comment.
