Gynaecology Waiting Lists Rise Again in Latest NHS England Data – RCOG
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists | RCOG shared a post on LinkedIn:
“The latest NHS England elective waiting list data tells us that there were over 570,000 women in England waiting in May 2026. This is a small increase on the previous month.
It is important to recognise the incredible efforts of the workforce that sit behind this month’s data. While the overall list increased, performance against the 18-week standard rose slightly in May, from 60.2% to 60.9%. That improvement reflects the hard work of an already stretched workforce.
The underlying picture is still one of a specialty under sustained pressure and the data for May tells us:
- Gynaecology still lags 4.7 percentage points behind overall elective 18-week performance (60.9% vs 65.6%)
- The number of women waiting over 52 weeks increased by 4.9% to 11,178
- New referrals into the system remain high at 117,348
Small gains are welcome, but they don’t change the underlying reality that too many women and people are still waiting too long for essential gynaecological care. We cannot ask the workforce to close this gap without the sustained investment the specialty needs.
The RCOG will continue to call for sustainable investment in gynaecology services including training and facilities – and for explicit plans to embed women’s health into neighbourhood health.
Learn more about our work into elective waiting lists.”

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