NHS Wait Helper

Hospital service waiting times

General surgery waiting times at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

At the end of August 2026, 4,546 people were on the General surgery at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust waiting list and about 6 in 10 people (59%) had been waiting less than 18 weeks.

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust · NHS trust · General surgery across England

People waiting
4,546
End of August 2026
Under 18 weeks
59.2%
England: 63.2%
Over 52 weeks
1
Median wait
14 wks
Published median for this list

1 people (0.0%) had been waiting more than 52 weeks.

This hospital's published position is broadly in line with the England picture 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 4.7% of everyone waiting at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

How published 18-week performance has changed

General surgery, NHS England Referral to Treatment figures, April 2024 to August 2026.

18-week performance improved

Published 18-week performance for General surgery at this organisation has improved over the past 12 months: 59.2% of people on the waiting list at the end of August 2026 had been waiting under 18 weeks, compared with 51.1% 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
59.2%
3 months earlier · May 2026
63.7% then · change to latest -4.6 percentage points
6 months earlier · February 2026
50.5% then · change to latest +8.7 percentage points
12 months earlier · August 2025
51.1% then · change to latest +8 percentage points
Earliest available · April 2024
43.3% then · change to latest +15.9 percentage points
Month-by-month figures
Share waiting under 18 weeks by month
Month endUnder 18 weeksPeople waiting
August 202659.2%4,546
July 202658%4,503
June 202663.7%4,434
May 202663.7%4,392
April 202662.8%4,414
March 202662.2%4,509
February 202650.5%4,502
January 202649%4,598
December 202554.9%4,592
November 202559.9%4,725
October 202559.5%5,041
September 202557.1%5,115
August 202551.1%5,076
July 202547.7%5,178
June 202542.1%5,103
May 202538.2%5,182
April 202535.8%5,326
March 202537.5%5,467
February 202541%5,863
January 202544.4%6,020
December 202446.7%6,231
November 202447.4%6,237
October 202445.8%6,257
September 202446%6,472
August 202444.8%6,577
July 202444.5%6,671
June 202443.5%6,657
May 202443.4%6,744
April 202443.3%6,672
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 general surgery 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 General surgery
TrustDistanceWaitingUnder 18 weeksDifference
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust2.7 mi4,70864%+4.8 pp
The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust8.1 mi3,47247%-12.4 pp
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust9.3 mi1,67057%-2 pp
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust12.1 mi1,19867%+7.8 pp
South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust18.8 mi1,22572%+13.3 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.

Related guides on this site

Related pages

All hospitals