Worcestershire<\/a> said it had \u201cactivity planning assumptions\u201d which have \u201ca minimum waiting time of 14 weeks\u201d for planned procedures.<\/p>\nMeanwhile, Dorset said: \u201cWithin NHS Dorset the independent sector, surgical providers are expected to adhere to a minimum wait of 14 weeks from date of referral as per activity planning assumptions within their contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Somerset said no patients should be treated under 14 weeks, unless they were a priority patient or needed urgent tests and scans.<\/p>\n
![\"West](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/iStock-1160049261-copy-1.jpg\")
West Yorkshire said it had a target of 90 per cent of patients to wait at least 16 weeks for treatment (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n
The Royal College of Surgeons of England president, Tim Lane, said: \u201cWe recognise the significant financial and capacity pressures facing the NHS, but patients who are clinically ready for treatment should not be deliberately made to wait. Unnecessary delays can prolong pain, limit mobility, increase anxiety and allow conditions to deteriorate.<\/p>\n
\u201cAccess to treatment should be determined by clinical need, not where a patient lives. Widespread use of minimum waits risks creating a postcode lottery and further delaying care.<\/p>\n
\u201cMinimum waits are not a substitute for addressing the NHS\u2019s underlying capacity problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need increased capital investment, improved infrastructure and better use of existing capacity so patients receive their treatment as promptly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown, president of the Royal College of GPs, said: \u201cLong waits for hospital treatment can be frustrating for patients, particularly when they are living with pain or other symptoms that are affecting their day-to-day lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring this time, patients often turn to their GP for support and ongoing management, so longer waits can also add to the already intense workload pressures facing general practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand the enormous pressures facing hospitals and the capacity constraints that can lead to long waits, but decisions about when a patient receives treatment should be based on their clinical needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlanket minimum waiting times that require patients to wait longer than clinically necessary for administrative or financial reasons are difficult to justify, particularly where patients could otherwise be treated sooner.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when the NHS is trying to bring waiting times down, we should be doing everything possible to ensure patients can get the care they need without unnecessary delays.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sally Gainsbury, senior policy analyst at the Nuffield Trust think tank, told the BMJ: \u201cLimiting activity by a certain minimum waiting time can be an equitable and rational response to making sure your budget is spread evenly across your population.\u201d<\/p>\n
But she added: \u201cI\u2019m concerned there isn\u2019t clarity on how to do this fairly.\u201d<\/p>\n
An NHS spokesperson said: \u201cWhile commissioned wait policies help the NHS make the best possible use of its services, staff and budgets \u2013 all patients are seen in order of clinical need.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognise that any wait for treatment can be difficult for patients, and we would not expect any organisation to commission waits that risks breaching NHS Constitution standards, which set an 18-week maximum wait for elective treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":766735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[59,102,253145,183719,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-766734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-gb","tag-health","tag-nhs-patient-care","tag-pa2026","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/766735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Analysis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01M237X9082QASC8BA8CMGM9DH.jpg\")
Analysis by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found minimum waits of up to 16 weeks for hip, knee and cataract surgery (PA)<\/p>\n