NHS Wait Helper

Hospital service waiting times

Ear, nose and throat (ENT) waiting times at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust

At the end of August 2026, 4,372 people were on the Ear, nose and throat (ENT) at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust waiting list and about 5 in 10 people (51%) had been waiting less than 18 weeks.

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust · NHS trust · Ear, nose and throat (ENT) across England

People waiting
4,372
End of August 2026
Under 18 weeks
50.8%
England: 56.8%
Over 52 weeks
104
Median wait
18 wks
Published median for this list

104 people (2.4%, roughly 1 in 42) had been waiting more than 52 weeks.

This hospital's published position is 6 percentage points behind the England figure for this service.

Why this page exists

This page combines facts that neither the organisation page nor the England specialty page shows on its own: the current published figure for this one service at this one organisation; how that figure has moved over the months we hold; the England figure for the same service in the same month; other NHS trusts within 25 miles reporting the same service; the published median wait and 52-week count for this list; the other services this organisation reports. This service accounts for 11.8% of everyone waiting at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust.

How published 18-week performance has changed

Ear, nose and throat (ENT), NHS England Referral to Treatment figures, April 2024 to August 2026.

18-week performance broadly stable

Published 18-week performance for Ear, nose and throat (ENT) at this organisation has been broadly stable over the past 12 months (a change of under 3 percentage points): 50.8% of people on the waiting list at the end of August 2026 had been waiting under 18 weeks, compared with 50.9% at the end of August 2025.

Share of people on the waiting list who had been waiting under 18 weeks, at the end of each month. Scale runs from 0% to 100%.
Latest · August 2026
50.8%
3 months earlier · May 2026
49.1% then · change to latest +1.7 percentage points
6 months earlier · February 2026
49.1% then · change to latest +1.7 percentage points
12 months earlier · August 2025
50.9% then · change to latest -0.1 percentage points
Earliest available · April 2024
35.1% then · change to latest +15.7 percentage points
Month-by-month figures
Share waiting under 18 weeks by month
Month endUnder 18 weeksPeople waiting
August 202650.8%4,372
July 202651.3%4,347
June 202651.7%4,438
May 202649.1%4,513
April 202650.5%4,461
March 202652.9%4,446
February 202649.1%4,478
January 202646.5%4,646
December 202546.9%4,520
November 202547.9%4,425
October 202549.3%4,371
September 202550.9%4,242
August 202550.9%4,097
July 202552.3%4,052
June 202550.6%3,932
May 202547.5%3,979
April 202550.3%4,187
March 202549.6%4,235
February 202550.5%4,354
January 202551.6%4,415
December 202449.3%4,486
November 202447.3%4,543
October 202441.7%4,921
September 202439.5%5,260
August 202436.2%5,831
July 202435.6%6,323
June 202434.4%6,744
May 202436.4%6,599
April 202435.1%6,626
How we calculate change
  • Each month's figure is the number of people waiting under 18 weeks divided by everyone on the waiting list, from NHS England's published monthly files.
  • Changes compare the latest month with exactly 3, 6 and 12 months earlier, only where both months are published and the list has at least 50 people.
  • The 12-month label is "improved" or "deteriorated" only if the share moved by 3 percentage points or more; smaller moves are called "broadly stable".
  • Where NHS England reissued a month's file, we use the revised file. Months we do not have are left as gaps and never estimated.
  • Earlier months come from our archive of NHS England's published files and are checked against our current figures wherever both exist.

What these figures cannot tell you

  • These are whole-list figures for one specialty at one organisation. They describe the published waiting list, not how long any one person will wait.
  • This specialty covers many conditions and treatments. These figures are not specific to any one operation or condition.
  • Figures are published for the whole organisation, which may run several hospital sites. They do not show the position at any single site.
  • Patients are prioritised by clinical need, so people on the same list can wait very different times.
  • A higher share within 18 weeks is not a measure of the quality of care.

Other NHS trusts offering ear, nose and throat (ent) within 25 miles

Published figures only. These are whole-list figures for each organisation in one month; a different organisation's published position does not mean an individual referral would move faster there.

Alternative trusts for Ear, nose and throat (ENT)
TrustDistanceWaitingUnder 18 weeksDifference
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust6.3 mi9,75155%+4.1 pp
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust8.2 mi4,78148%-2.5 pp
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust10.4 mi9,41258%+7.3 pp
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust12.6 mi3,54579%+28.1 pp
North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust13.3 mi3,68054%+3.6 pp

What these figures cannot tell you

  • Where you are in a queue, or when you will be seen or treated.
  • How urgent your own referral is. These are aggregate waiting-list figures and do not show the clinical priority of an individual patient.
  • Anything about a specific consultant, clinic or site within a trust.
  • What will happen next month: these are end-of-month snapshots of a past period.

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