The NHS says you should wait no more than 18 weeks for treatment led by a consultant, if it isn't urgent. In most cases, you can choose where you're treated.
How long have I been waiting? Your right to chooseThe NHS says you should wait no more than 18 weeks. This is for treatment led by a consultant that isn't urgent. The 18 weeks start when your appointment is booked, or when the hospital receives your referral letter.
How waiting times are measured →Your wait ends when your treatment starts. It also ends if you, or a clinician, decide you won't have treatment.
How waiting times are measured →If you're referred urgently to check for cancer, the NHS says you should find out within 28 days whether you have it.
How waiting times are measured →If you're likely to wait more than 18 weeks, you have the legal right to ask to be seen somewhere else. The hospital, or your local NHS (your integrated care board), then has to look into it. It has to offer you other hospitals or clinics that could see you sooner. The right doesn't cover maternity care, or some mental health and council services.
Your right to choose →My Planned Care is the NHS's own site for waiting times. Search it by postcode to compare average waits at hospitals near you. It is updated every week.
My Planned Care gives advice and support while you wait. It also helps you get ready for your appointment, treatment or operation. Your care plan or letter should say who to contact with a question, or about a change in your health.
My Planned Care says your hospital team will be in touch as soon as they can. It asks you to check its site for an update before you contact your hospital or GP. If you have a concern, the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) at your hospital gives confidential advice. Your GP surgery, your hospital or NHS 111 can tell you where your nearest PALS is.
In most cases, you have the legal right to choose the hospital you go to. You can also choose the team that treats you, led by a consultant. For a first appointment with a specialist, many private hospitals that treat NHS patients are on the list too.
Your right to choose →Your GP chooses which hospitals go on the list in your appointment request letter. So tell your GP which ones you'd prefer while you're with them.
Your right to choose →Most reports from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) give an overall rating. There are four: Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement and Inadequate. The CQC says a rating can help you compare services and choose.
What a CQC rating measures →The CQC also rates five questions about each service. Is it safe? Is it effective? Is it caring? Does it respond to people's needs? Is it well-led?
What a CQC rating measures →Each CQC report shows the date it was published. Look at that date next to any waiting time, which NHS England publishes each month.
Data and sources →Dated items drawn from the NHS news feed and the Department of Health and Social Care feed, each linked to its own source.
You can pay privately for one treatment and keep the rest of your NHS care. Department of Health guidance for England, from 2009, says the NHS should go on giving you, free, all the care you would have had anyway.
The private treatment has to be kept separate. You pay its full cost.
Before a private consultation, the consultant must tell you what it is likely to cost. That rule comes from a 2014 order by the Competition and Markets Authority.
