Please note this website is designed to provide information for healthcare professionals delivering and sustaining 18 Weeks in the NHS. A brief introduction is provided below for members of the public. Please consult the NHS Choices website for public information.

In the early 1990s waits of more than six months for a first outpatient appointment were not uncommon, and tens of thousands of people waited more than two years for an operation. But since December 2008, the longest should wait after being referred by your GP until you start your treatment is 18 weeks - that is, unless you choose to delay treatment or there is a clinical reason why you should wait longer. Wherever possible, you will wait less than this, with the average wait being around eight weeks. Any hospital appointments, tests, scans or other procedures that you may need before being treated will all happen within this maximum time limit.

18 weeks is about delivering the right care, at the right time, of the right quality and without unnecessary delays.

• A focus on ending the ‘culture of waiting’ in the NHS to improve the overall patient experience through building on record low waiting times
• Everyone who chooses to be treated within 18 weeks, and for whom it is clinically appropriate, will be treated in that timeframe 
• With these much lower waiting times and other changes taking place across the NHS - like patient choice - GPs are likely to only refer patients on for treatment when they are fit and their personal circumstances allow them to be treated
• High quality care for NHS patients will continue, irrespective of whether it is provided by the NHS or independent sector
• Diagnostic tests and outpatient appointments will be carried out closer to home as more services are provided in the community and by GPs; increasingly, patients will only need to go to hospital for specialist treatment

The leaflet ‘Setting New Standards for Your Care’ provides patients with a plain English summary of 18 Weeks. It helps to articulate the patients’ benefits and responsibilities. Read it here.

Alternatively, you can watch a short film here; it gives you a very brief introduction to 18 Weeks and explains the role of patients.

NHS Choices

Developed to help you make choices about your health, from lifestyle decisions about things like smoking, drinking and exercise, through to the practical aspects of finding and using NHS services when you need them.

Choose and Book

The national electronic referral and booking service for specialist appointments.

NHS Direct

The website for the 24-hour helpline, NHS Direct provides information and advice about health, illness and health services to enable patients to make decisions about their healthcare and that of their families.

Patient Opinion

Enables patients to share their experiences of health care. As well as allowing everyone to see what patients are saying about their services, it also offers a way to feed the experience of patients back to the NHS so that their insights and ideas can be put to good use.