NHS waiting times glossary

How long people currently on a waiting list have been waiting so far. It includes people referred recently, so it understates what someone joining today will eventually wait.

How long people who were treated in a given month had waited before treatment. It excludes everyone still waiting, so the longest waits are missing from it.

A first appointment with a consultant. This is the wait between your GP referring you and being seen — the first leg of the journey, before any decision to treat.

Treatment requiring a hospital admission. Day case means you go home the same day; inpatient means at least one night. The waiting time for these starts once you have been listed for treatment, not when you were referred.

The middle value. If the median wait is 20 weeks, half of people waited less and half waited more. It says nothing about how long the longer half waited.

The point nine in ten people are treated by. If the median is 20 weeks and the 90th percentile is 90, the tail is far longer than the headline figure suggests.

The hospital department, not the procedure. Trauma & Orthopaedics covers hips, knees, shoulders and more; Ophthalmology covers cataracts, glaucoma and everything else eye-related. A specialty-level waiting time averages across all of it.

Paying for private treatment yourself rather than through insurance. Private hospitals publish self-pay guide prices; insured rates are negotiated separately and are not public.