UK health indicators

Track NHS pressure in context

A public-facing view of NHS pressure, waiting lists, cancer waiting times, ambulance call pressure and seasonal respiratory illness.

Last Data update:

16 Jun 2026, 04:17

Source data updates monthly or seasonally

Health dashboard

What this page tracks

A&E waits
Operation waiting lists
Cancer waiting times
Ambulance call answering
Flu, RSV and COVID
Official NHS/UKHSA sources

Headline indicators

Latest health snapshot

A&E seen within 4 hours

75.7%

Amber

Period: May-26

Change: -1.2 percentage points

12-hour A&E waits

50,212

patients

Red

Period: May-26

Change: +2,462 patients

Cancer diagnosis within 28 days

75.9%

Amber

Period: April 2026

Mean 999 call answer time

5

seconds

Green

Period: 2026-05

Change: +3 seconds

NHS pressure

A&E demand and emergency pressure

Emergency department demand, four-hour performance and long waits after a decision to admit.

A&E attendances

2,457,398

attendances

Neutral

Period: May-26

Change: +112,069 attendances

A&E seen within 4 hours

75.7%

Amber

Period: May-26

Change: -1.2 percentage points

12-hour A&E waits

50,212

patients

Red

Period: May-26

Change: +2,462 patients

Waiting lists

Operation and treatment waiting lists

Referral to Treatment pathways waiting for consultant-led elective care.

Data is not currently available for this section.

Median RTT wait

This metric is not currently available.

Pending

Waiting over 52 weeks

This metric is not currently available.

Pending

Estimated patients waiting

This metric is not currently available.

Pending

Operation waiting list

This metric is not currently available.

Pending

Cancer waits

Cancer diagnosis and treatment waits

Cancer waiting time standards, including faster diagnosis and treatment waits.

Cancer diagnosis within 28 days

75.9%

Amber

Period: April 2026

Cancer treatment within 31 days

92.6%

Green

Period: April 2026

Cancer first treatment within 62 days

70%

Amber

Period: April 2026

Faster diagnosis standard total

271,346

patients

Neutral

Period: April 2026

Ambulance

Ambulance response and call pressure

England-level Category 2 response time and 999 call-answering indicators from Ambulance Systems Indicators.

Mean 999 call answer time

5

seconds

Green

Period: 2026-05

Change: +3 seconds

999 calls answered

888,848

calls

Neutral

Period: 2026-05

Change: +96,937 calls

Ambulance Category 2 mean response

29.2

minutes

Amber

Period: 2026-05

Change: +4.7 minutes

AmbSYS field A31. Category 2 mean response time.

Seasonal illness

Flu, RSV and COVID in proportion

Respiratory virus indicators from UKHSA. These are useful seasonally, but should not dominate the health page.

COVID positivity

0.83%

Green

Period: 2026-06-08

positivity

Influenza positivity

This metric is not currently available.

temporarily unavailable

Pending

RSV positivity

This metric is not currently available.

temporarily unavailable

Pending

Sources

Data sources used

UKHSA Dashboard APIhttps://ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/access-our-data
Health guide

Reading NHS pressure and public-health indicators responsibly

The health dashboard brings together public indicators such as waiting lists, cancer waiting-time measures, ambulance response data and seasonal respiratory illness. These figures are useful for context, but many are published monthly and may describe activity from an earlier reporting period.

Dashboard refresh time is not always publication time

A page update means UK Data Hub has checked or refreshed the feed. NHS and public-health datasets often update monthly or weekly, so each metric should be read with its own reporting period, source and last published date where available.

Waiting-time measures describe system pressure

Referral-to-treatment waiting lists, cancer waiting standards and ambulance response times are national pressure indicators. They help show broad trends, but they do not describe the experience of every hospital, ambulance trust, patient group or local service.

Why this page currently uses mainly NHS England data

Health services are devolved across the UK, so England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland publish many performance measures separately, using different formats, definitions and release schedules. UK Data Hub currently uses mainly NHS England workbooks because they provide regular machine-readable datasets for the indicators shown here. Future versions can add nation-specific panels as comparable devolved datasets are identified and processed safely.

Seasonal illness data changes through the year

Flu, RSV and COVID indicators can rise quickly in winter and fall during quieter periods. Low values outside peak season should not be treated as proof that local health services are not under pressure from other causes.

Data notes

  • Health indicators currently use mainly NHS England public statistical workbooks, plus selected public-health datasets where suitable machine-readable files are available.
  • Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland publish their own health performance data, but definitions, file formats and publication schedules do not always align directly with NHS England measures.
  • Some files are replaced monthly, so source discovery and caching are used to keep links current.
  • Each section may have a different reporting period and update frequency.

Limitations

  • Health data is often lagged and may be provisional.
  • Figures can be revised by the original publisher.
  • This page is for public information only and is not medical advice.

Useful background

Health data sourcesWhy some data is lagged