Here is the local picture on 18 week waits, fully updated with the September 2012 RTT waiting times data just released by the Department of Health for England.

If you want to pick a Trust, independent sector provider, or PCT, and get a full analysis of the pressures in any specialty, then all the detail is here: Gooroo reports

Where are the very-long waiters?

In September the number of over-one-year waiters fell to 1,613, from 20,097 a year earlier. That’s a fantastic achievement, but there are still 1,613 very-long-waiters on the books who really shouldn’t be there. This map shows where they are, along with other waiting time statistics and year-on-year comparisons:

Provider one year waits - summary

Provider one year waits – summary

Other maps you might find useful:
All specialties together, by NHS/IS provider (same as map above)
Each specialty separately, by NHS/IS provider
All specialties together, by PCT (i.e. population basis)
Each specialty separately, by PCT

The 92 per cent target

The most meaningful of the 18 week targets is that 92 per cent of the waiting list (‘incomplete pathways’) must be within 18 weeks. So this map series shows how long 92 per cent of the waiting list has actually waited.

92 per cent within 18 weeks - Provider summary

92 per cent within 18 weeks – Provider summary

All specialties together, by NHS/IS provider (same as map above)
Each specialty separately, by NHS/IS provider
All specialties together, by PCT (i.e. population basis)
Each specialty separately, by PCT

Where are the most ‘clock pauses’?

This map shows where the greatest amount of clock-pausing is happening, measured by the difference between 90th centile adjusted and unadjusted waiting times.

Why this focus on clock pauses? Because the best way to tackle long waits in the NHS is to address the two root causes: waiting lists that are too big, and sub-optimal patient scheduling. If services come to rely on clock pauses to achieve their targets month after month, then that deflects attention from those root causes. If a service gets to the point where it is over- or mis-using clock pauses then that is unfair to patients, and likely to end in crisis when the position becomes unsustainable. So the intention of this focus on clock pauses is to shine light on them so that they are not over-used, and the root causes of long waits are addressed instead.

Clock pauses are applied by the provider, so here is a map showing where clock pauses have the greatest effect at Trust-specialty level:

Clock pauses - provider by specialty

Clock pauses – provider by specialty