Choose a hospital: compare NHS waiting times near you

If you live in England and your GP refers you to a specialist, in most cases you have the legal right to choose which hospital you go to. Compare NHS waiting times, inspection ratings and A&E times at hospitals near you, then tell your GP which one you would like.

Compare NHS hospitals near you

Choose the specialty you are being referred to and enter your postcode. The list shows NHS hospitals in England, nearest first.

Your right to choose

If your GP, dentist or optometrist refers you for treatment led by a consultant, or to a mental health professional, you can usually choose:

• which hospital or service you go to for your first outpatient appointment
• the clinical team, led by a consultant or named healthcare professional, who will be in charge of your care there

This is a legal right in England. It applies to hospitals and services that have an NHS contract for the treatment you need. This includes many private hospitals that treat NHS patients, as long as it does not cost the NHS more than a standard NHS hospital. Your treatment is still free on the NHS.

Normally, the hospital you choose for your first appointment will also give you the rest of your treatment.

How to choose a hospital

1. Think about what matters to you. For example, how long you may wait for your first appointment and for treatment, how far you will need to travel, and the hospital’s inspection rating.
2. Compare your options. Use the comparison above, or the My Planned Care website, which shows waiting times for individual hospitals.
3. Tell your GP which hospital you would like. When your GP says they will refer you, ask them to refer you to the hospital you choose. Your GP agrees a shortlist of suitable hospitals or services with you, so mention your preference during the appointment. GPs are asked to offer about 5 choices where this is suitable.
4. Book your appointment. You can book through the NHS e-Referral Service (Manage Your Referral) or the NHS App, at the GP surgery, or by phone, using the details in your appointment request letter. Booking online, you can see each hospital’s waiting time and choose a date and time that suits you.

If you need help choosing because of a disability, a mental health condition or another impairment, tell the person referring you. They should take your needs into account.

When you cannot choose

You do not have a legal right to choose where your outpatient appointment takes place if you:

• are already being treated for the condition and this is an onward referral
• are using urgent, emergency or crisis services
• need urgent treatment, for example after an urgent referral for suspected cancer
• are in prison, on temporary release from prison, or held in another prescribed place such as an immigration removal centre
• are detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act 1983
• are a serving member of the armed forces
• are using maternity services (there are separate choices for maternity care)

In an emergency, call 999 or go to the nearest A&E. You cannot choose a hospital for emergency care.

If you wait more than 18 weeks

The maximum waiting time for non-urgent, consultant-led treatment is 18 weeks. It starts when your appointment is booked through the NHS e-Referral Service, or when the hospital receives your referral letter.

If you have waited, or are likely to wait, more than 18 weeks, you have the legal right to ask to be seen by a different provider. Contact the hospital or your local integrated care board (ICB). They must look into it and offer you suitable alternatives that can see you sooner.

This right does not apply if, for example, you choose to wait longer, waiting is in your best clinical interests, your condition is being monitored, you missed appointments you had chosen, or you no longer need treatment. For an urgent suspected cancer referral, cancer should be confirmed or ruled out within 28 days.

What the figures mean

• Half waited less than (the median): of all the people still waiting for treatment in that specialty at the end of the month, half had waited less than this number of weeks since they were referred. It is not a guarantee of how long you will wait.
• Waiting under 18 weeks: the share of those people who had waited less than 18 weeks.
• A&E within 4 hours: the share of people at the trust’s major A&E departments who were admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours.
• CQC rating: the overall rating from the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and social care in England.

Waiting times and A&E figures come from NHS England’s official monthly statistics. They are published for the whole NHS trust that runs a hospital, not for each hospital: a trust with several hospitals has one figure for all of them, and it may not offer every specialty at every hospital. How long you wait also depends on your condition and the treatment you need. The comparison shows NHS hospitals in England. Private hospitals that treat NHS patients are not included.

If you are not offered a choice

You should be offered a choice when you are referred. If you are not, speak to the person referring you first. If that does not resolve it, you can complain to your local integrated care board, which must make sure you are offered choices, or raise your concern with NHS England. If you are still not satisfied, you can take your complaint to the independent Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

Sources

We checked this guide against these official pages on 22 October 2026.

• Your choices in the NHS (NHS website)
• NHS Choice Framework: what choices are available to you in your NHS care (Department of Health and Social Care (GOV.UK))
• Guide to NHS waiting times in England (NHS website)
• Book an appointment using the NHS e-Referral Service (NHS website)
• Consultant-led Referral to Treatment Waiting Times Data 2026-27 (NHS England)
• A&E Attendances and Emergency Admissions 2026-27 (NHS England)

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