My Planned Care portal to show non‑urgent surgery waiting times

From later this month patients needing non‑urgent operations will be able to see how long they are likely to wait at the trust that will treat them. The new My Planned Care service, added to the NHS.UK website, aims to make waiting‑time data – long‑standing “black‑box” information – openly accessible for the first time.

The rollout is part of a wider push announced by the Department of Health to improve transparency and to give patients a “personalised plan” while they wait. The plan, spelled out in the new eight‑point NHS patient‑experience standards, also requires confirmed referral notices via the NHS App, text or letter, and regular 12‑week updates on condition and self‑care advice. NHS England’s overhaul is being rolled out alongside the My Planned Care portal.

Media additions

Statement: Understanding NHS planned care waiting times statistics across the UK

What the new service will actually show

• For each NHS trust, the average wait for the first outpatient appointment after referral.
• Typical time from that appointment to a scheduled operation for non‑urgent surgical pathways.
• Advice on lifestyle steps – smoking cessation, diet, exercise – to reduce the risk of on‑the‑day cancellations, which the Department of Health says account for roughly a third of such cancellations.
• A future‑ready version that will sit inside the NHS App, extending reach to patients who prefer mobile access.

Scotland already offers a similar public look‑up tool via NHS inform, where users can see waiting times for outpatient and inpatient slots, although it excludes diagnostic and return appointments. Public Health Scotland notes that the data are now published monthly, with the latest release covering 30 June 2026.

Political and operational background

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has framed the portal as a step toward “access to life‑changing care and support for people no matter who they are or where they live”. He also used the launch to remind the public that the pandemic “rightly focused on treating COVID‑19 patients” but left the elective backlog swelling.

“At the height of the pandemic the NHS rightly focused on treating COVID‑19 patients, but sadly it has meant waiting lists have risen – and the COVID backlog is going to keep rising,”

Sajid Javid, Health Secretary, via the Department of Health

There are signs of tension behind the scenes. The Telegraph reported that Chancellor Rishi Sunak blocked the publication of the broader recovery plan, a claim the Health Secretary denied to the BBC. The same article notes that the government promised £5.4 billion in funding – including £1 billion earmarked for routine surgeries – but that delivery has slipped past the December deadline.

Meanwhile, NHS England’s chief executive, Sir Jim Mackey, warned that navigating the system has been “like walking through treacle”. He said the new standards are “the bare minimum the public can expect” and highlighted the need for clear referral confirmations and regular progress updates.

“Almost everyone has a story in their family about how navigating the NHS has been like walking through treacle, including cases where patients aren’t even sure if they’ve been referred, which is clearly unacceptable,”

Sir Jim Mackey, NHS Chief Executive, via NHS England

William Pett, interim director at Healthwatch England, echoed the sentiment, urging trusts to upskill admin teams to meet the new standards and avoid “months on end without news of when they will be seen”.

“We welcome the publication of these standards as a clear signal that high‑quality customer service matters as much to patients as the length of their wait,”

William Pett, Interim Director of Policy & External Affairs, via Healthwatch England

How the portal fits into the wider effort to shrink the backlog

Analysts at npifund report that England’s elective‑care waiting list now stands at 7.7 million pathways. In England, the new My Planned Care portal is being introduced as a “support tool” for patients while the system works to raise activity. By giving patients clear timing expectations, the Department of Health hopes to reduce on‑the‑day cancellations (the third of them caused by patients being “clinically not ready” for surgery) and to keep patients healthier while they wait.

What to watch next

• 28 July 2026 – Public Health Scotland’s next monthly release of stage‑of‑treatment data.

The My Planned Care platform does not, on its own, solve the chronic shortage of operating slots, but it gives patients a concrete piece of information that has long been missing. Combined with the NHS’s new communication standards and the broader push for a single patient record, the portal could become a cornerstone of a more transparent, patient‑centred system – if the underlying workforce and funding issues are finally addressed.