Acute (Teaching) London Good

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Central London teaching hospital trust covering UCH, the National Hospital for Neurology, and the Macmillan Cancer Centre.

Data vintage: June 2026 · Reviewed by PlainNHS ·

RTT 18-week

65%

Far below standard

Waiting list

77,928

incomplete pathways across 20 specialties

Waiting 52+ weeks

890

Low 52+ burden

CQC rating

Good

Published 2018-12-11

The wait picture

University College London Hospitals ranks 176 of 266 English NHS providers with waiting lists above 1,000 on the 18-week RTT standard (65% within standard; 77,928 incomplete pathways). Longest published specialty median here: General Internal Medicine at 18 weeks.

65%
Incomplete pathways within 18 weeks
77,928
Incomplete pathways on the list
18 wks
Longest specialty median (General Internal Medicine)
890
Patients waiting 52+ weeks

Ranked on NHS England's RTT-June-2026 incomplete-pathway return against every English provider with a list above 1,000 (not only the trusts PlainNHS profiles). Specialty charts use rows with ≥100 incomplete pathways.

Care Quality Commission · University College London Hospitals

Effective rated Good; Safe rated Requires improvement

On CQC's file, University College London Hospitals's strongest published key question is Effective (Good); the weakest is Safe (Requires improvement), dated 2018-12-11. Overall is Good. These are inspection findings, not a forecast of any individual wait. How to read CQC bands. CQC provider page.

  • Safe Requires improvement
  • Effective Good
  • Caring Good
  • Responsive Good
  • Well-led Good

Published performance context

How this profile sits in the published data

PlainNHS converts the measures below into percentiles within the named comparison groups, then combines them into a transparent context score. It is not a clinical-quality rating, a referral recommendation, or a prediction of an individual wait. The official source values remain the decision-relevant record.

Published performance context for University College London Hospitals. Each axis is a percentile in its stated comparison group; the centre score uses the displayed weights. 3-axis radar comparing 1 series across 18-week standard, 52-week burden, Published CQC band. 18-week standard52-week burdenPublished CQC band 46 context / 100 50th percentile
Published performance context for University College London Hospitals. Each axis is a percentile in its stated comparison group; the centre score uses the displayed weights.

46/100 context score. Weights automatically redistribute when a source value is unavailable.

  • 18-week standard: 34th percentile (50% weight)
    65% of incomplete pathways were within 18 weeks. 266 English providers with 1,000+ incomplete pathways. Source: NHS England RTT incomplete-pathway return.
  • 52-week burden: 31st percentile (30% weight)
    11.4 patients waiting 52+ weeks per 1,000 incomplete pathways. 266 English providers with 1,000+ incomplete pathways. Source: NHS England RTT incomplete-pathway return.
  • Published CQC band: 100th percentile (20% weight)
    CQC overall rating: Good. 10 profiled English trusts with a matched CQC overall rating. Source: Care Quality Commission published provider rating.

A percentile describes this publication's comparison group, not care quality or likely treatment timing. CQC inspection bands and RTT operational data measure different things and should be read separately as well as together.

NHS England RTT incomplete return

University College London Hospitals incomplete-pathway return June 2026 · provider×specialty

University College London Hospitals · 65% within 18w · #176/266 · 77,928 incomplete

University College London Hospitals line from NHS England's consultant-led incomplete-pathway return (RTT-June-2026), compared with nearest within-18-week peers outside London. How RTT works → · Compare two trusts →

University College London Hospitals in the within-18-week neighbourhood

Oxford University: 62.5%Oxford University62.5%Manchester Unive…: 63.8%Manchester Unive…63.8%University Colle…: 65%University Colle…65%Cambridge Univer…: 65%Cambridge Univer…65%
Share of incomplete pathways within 18 weeks for University College London Hospitals and nearest RTT-profile peers. Source: NHS England consultant-led RTT provider return.

Specialty median waits at University College London Hospitals

Sorted ascending. Incomplete pathways with ≥100 patients from NHS England's consultant-led RTT return (RTT-June-2026). Showing the four shortest and twelve longest of 18 published specialties.

Other Services: 6 wksOther Services6 wksRespiratory Medicine: 7 wksRespiratory Medicine7 wksGastroenterology: 8 wksGastroenterology8 wksTrauma and Orthopaedic: 9 wksTrauma and Orthopaedic9 wksCardiology: 11 wksCardiology11 wksNeurology: 11 wksNeurology11 wksSurgical Services: 11 wksSurgical Services11 wksPaediatric Services: 12 wksPaediatric Services12 wksDermatology: 13 wksDermatology13 wksRheumatology: 13 wksRheumatology13 wksNeurosurgical: 14 wksNeurosurgical14 wksMedical Services: 14 wksMedical Services14 wks
Median incomplete-pathway wait (weeks) by specialty at University College London Hospitals

Share within 18 weeks by specialty

Sorted descending. Same specialty set as the median chart; useful when comparing queues inside this trust.

Respiratory Medicine: 89.1%Respiratory Medicine89.1%Other Services: 86.5%Other Services86.5%Gastroenterology: 83.2%Gastroenterology83.2%Trauma and Orthopaedic: 76.5%Trauma and Orthopaedic76.5%Neurology: 71.5%Neurology71.5%Surgical Services: 70.3%Surgical Services70.3%Cardiology: 69.8%Cardiology69.8%Paediatric Services: 65.4%Paediatric Services65.4%Dermatology: 64%Dermatology64%Rheumatology: 64%Rheumatology64%Neurosurgical: 63%Neurosurgical63%Medical Services: 62.2%Medical Services62.2%
Share of incomplete pathways within 18 weeks by specialty at University College London Hospitals

Waiting times by specialty

Incomplete pathways from NHS England's consultant-led RTT provider return. Longest published median on this trust: General Internal Medicine Service (18 weeks). RTT is reported by treatment function (specialty), not by individual operation - a hernia repair sits inside General Surgery, not as its own row.

Specialty Median wait 92nd percentile Within 18 weeks Waiting
Other - Other Services 6 wks 31 wks 86.5% 1,615
Respiratory Medicine Service 7 wks 20 wks 89.1% 843
Gastroenterology Service 8 wks 24 wks 83.2% 3,776
Trauma and Orthopaedic Service 9 wks 32 wks 76.5% 3,338
Other - Mental Health Services 9 wks 26 wks 78.5% 901
Oral Surgery Service 11 wks 33 wks 70% 7,017
Cardiology Service 11 wks 30 wks 69.8% 805
Neurology Service 11 wks 32 wks 71.5% 5,505
Other - Surgical Services 11 wks 32 wks 70.3% 7,689
Other - Paediatric Services 12 wks 37 wks 65.4% 4,988
Dermatology Service 13 wks 39 wks 64% 2,742
Rheumatology Service 13 wks 40 wks 64% 935
Neurosurgical Service 14 wks 41 wks 63% 3,546
Other - Medical Services 14 wks 41 wks 62.2% 10,327
Ear Nose and Throat Service 15 wks 39 wks 59.7% 6,953
Urology Service 17 wks 43 wks 53.9% 5,006
General Internal Medicine Service 18 wks 41 wks 52.2% 5,973
Gynaecology Service 18 wks 50 wks 50.6% 5,846

Source: NHS England Referral-to-Treatment (RTT) waiting times, RTT-June-2026. Specialties with fewer than 100 incomplete pathways are omitted. View source

Diagnostic test waiting times

NHS England's monthly Diagnostic Waiting Times and Activity (DM01) return for University College London Hospitals, by test type. This tracks scans and investigations, separate from the specialty treatment waits above.

Test Median wait Within 6 weeks Over 13 weeks Waiting
Peripheral Neurophys 12 wks 30.4% 701 1,749
Urodynamics 11 wks 38.3% 83 227
MRI 5 wks 65.4% 773 7,993
Barium Enema 4 wks 74.4% 5 203
Cystoscopy 4 wks 69% 35 258
Echocardiography 4 wks 94.7% 6 715
Audiology Assessments 3 wks 88.1% 0 101
CT 3 wks 97.3% 9 2,051
Gastroscopy 3 wks 97.6% 0 417
Sleep Studies 3 wks 81.5% 23 401
Colonoscopy 2 wks 98.9% 0 360
DEXA Scan 2 wks 74.7% 0 95
Flexi Sigmoidoscopy 2 wks 100% 0 62
Non Obstetric Ultrasound 2 wks 93% 12 2,126

Source: NHS England Diagnostic Waiting Times and Activity (DM01), DM01-MAY-2026. Tests with fewer than 20 patients waiting are omitted. View source

Other NHS Trusts in London

Trusts with a similar RTT profile

Other English trusts with a within-18-week share within 2.5 percentage points of University College London Hospitals's 65%, ranked by closeness, outside London.

Trusts moving similarly this month

Peers whose within-18-week share moved in the same direction by a similar amount between RTT-May-2026 and RTT-June-2026. University College London Hospitals's change: +1.1 pp.

Longest mapped procedure waits at this trust

Procedure pages joined to this trust's slowest RTT treatment functions on file. Use them to compare national medians and per-trust tables.

What to do next

Use University College London Hospitals's published RTT return before you chase a clinical answer.

  • University College London Hospitals reported 65% of incomplete pathways within 18 weeks (77,928 waiting across 20 specialties on the June 2026 return). Compare with another trust
  • Longest median wait at this trust on file: Tonsillectomy (15 weeks). Open procedure profile
  • Read how the 18-week clock and incomplete-pathway counts are defined in NHS England’s monthly release. RTT guide

Published operational data only, not medical advice. Contact your GP, NHS 111, or the treating trust for clinical decisions.

Source: NHS England Referral to Treatment (RTT) waiting times · RTT-June-2026 CQC overall + five key-question ratings matched from the Care Quality Commission published provider file (cqc_provider_ratings).

Spotted a figure that looks wrong? Report a correction.

PlainNHS trust pages are rendered directly from NHS England RTT provider returns and matched CQC overall ratings, no number is typed in by an editor. Specialty waits and within-18-week shares for University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust come from the live provider×specialty return on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Data current as of RTT-June-2026. Figures here are for context and comparison; clinical pathway decisions belong with your GP, NHS 111, or the treating Trust.