Hospitals where the poor wait much longer than the rich

Some of the NHS’s best performing trusts have a big gap between waiting times for their most and least deprived patients. 

NHS England published data for the first time this summer which breaks down waiting times for each trust and integrated care system by the index of multiple deprivation (IMD).

HSJ  has analysed the new data. At a national level, it confirms the widely accepted view that a greater share of patients who live in postcodes with the worst IMD ratings are waiting longer for elective care. The same applies to people with a Bangladeshi or Pakistani background, and some mixed ethnic backgrounds.

However, HSJ’s  analysis also reveals some trusts and systems have a much bigger gap than others when it comes to the percentage of more and less deprived people waiting more than 18 weeks.

Several of those trusts and systems with the biggest gaps serve a wealthier than average population overall, and are among the better performers nationally when it comes to treating their patients from the wealthiest areas.

Nationally, 59.2% of patients on the elective waiting list who are living in postcodes in the most deprived IMD decile (1) have been waiting within the national target time of 18 weeks. This compares to 60.9% of those living in areas earmarked as belonging to the wealthiest decile (10) – a gap of 1.7 percentage points.

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Source: HSJ, 4 September 2025