Data methodology
How Find Faster Care uses published data
England and Scotland use different public datasets and standards. Find Faster Care keeps them separate and labels them clearly.
England methodology
NHS England RTT data
England results use published NHS England referral-to-treatment waiting-time data at provider and specialty level where available. The 18-week RTT standard is used as a contextual benchmark.
- Provider or NHS trust level information.
- Specialty-level records where available.
- Published monthly source data.
- Postcodes are converted to coordinates using Postcodes.io.
- Distances are straight-line estimates to a provider location, not a treatment site or travel route, and appear only where provider coordinates are available.
- Missing provider coordinates never change the waiting-time sort.
Scotland methodology
Public Health Scotland planned care data
Scotland results use Public Health Scotland Stage of Treatment waiting-time data. The current Scotland version is board-level planned care only.
- New outpatient appointments.
- Inpatient and day case treatment.
- Ongoing waits only.
- Latest month only: April 2026 in the current data file.
- All-specialties total only.
- No diagnostics and no postcode matching in Scotland mode.
Known limitations
- Published data is not live hospital availability.
- NHS England RTT data is provider-level aggregate data. A provider may operate more than one hospital or treatment site.
- Provider location coverage is incomplete, so postcode results must not be interpreted as a complete list of nearby hospitals.
- The site cannot check clinical suitability or urgency.
- Waiting times can change after publication.
- Data may not show exact waits for a specific procedure or individual patient.
- England and Scotland data cannot be directly compared without understanding their differences.
For urgent symptoms, use NHS 111 or call 999. For personal medical advice, contact a healthcare professional.