/ Report

NHS physiotherapy waiting times by region: August 2026

456,532 people were waiting for NHS community musculoskeletal physiotherapy in England in August 2026. 78,025 of them, 17.1%, had already waited more than 18 weeks, and 1,336 more than a year.

Across the 26 regions whose returns were consistent in both months, the list grew by 3% between May 2026 and August 2026, from 331,492 to 341,387. The number waiting more than 18 weeks in those regions went from 57,528 to 62,742.

Source: NHS England, Community Health Services waiting lists. The latest month published is August 2026.

Where people have waited longest

The regions with the largest share of their list waiting more than 18 weeks, among lists of 2,000 people or more.

  1. Surrey and Sussex: 40.2% (22,857 of 56,846 people)
  2. South West London: 32.7% (4,346 of 13,277 people)
  3. Gloucestershire: 27.5% (2,054 of 7,461 people)
  4. Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire: 27.4% (1,883 of 6,879 people) · returns changed since May 2026, so compare with care
  5. West and North London: 24.4% (7,090 of 29,063 people)

Share of each region's list waiting more than 18 weeks

  • Surrey and Sussex 40.2%
  • South West London 32.7%
  • Gloucestershire 27.5%
  • Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire 27.4%
  • West and North London 24.4%
  • Cheshire and Merseyside 19.3%
  • Lancashire and South Cumbria 19.3%
  • Thames Valley 19.1%
  • Central East 17.3%
  • Herefordshire and Worcestershire 16.8%
  • Birmingham and Solihull 15.8%
  • West Yorkshire 15.6%
  • Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly 14.6%
  • North East and North Cumbria 14.5%
  • South Yorkshire 14.1%
  • South East London 12.1%
  • Hampshire and Isle of Wight 10.1%
  • North East London 9.9%
  • Dorset 8%
  • Northamptonshire 8%
  • Greater Manchester 6.5%
  • Coventry and Warwickshire 5.2%
  • Black Country 4.2%
  • Staffordshire and Stoke-On-Trent 4.1%
  • Somerset 3.6%
  • Norfolk and Suffolk 3.5%
  • Essex * 2.8%
  • Devon 2.6%
  • Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland 2.6%
  • Humber and North Yorkshire 1.2%
  • Kent and Medway 0.8%
  • Nottingham and Nottinghamshire 0.7%
  • Derby and Derbyshire * 0.3%
  • Lincolnshire * 0%
People on the list in August 2026 who had already waited more than 18 weeks, as a share of everyone waiting in that region. * A list of fewer than 2,000 people, which may reflect missing returns rather than short waits.

Every region

Region Waiting Over 18 weeks Over a year Estimated typical wait so far Private first appointment
56,846 22,857 (40.2%) 781 about 15 weeks –
13,277 4,346 (32.7%) 459 about 11 weeks –
7,461 2,054 (27.5%) 1 about 11 weeks –
6,879 1,883 (27.4%) 40 about 10 weeks –
29,063 7,090 (24.4%) 7 about 9 weeks –
27,778 5,370 (19.3%) 11 about 10 weeks £48 to £80 (13 clinics)
2,537 490 (19.3%) 17 about 7 weeks £80 (3 clinics)
16,293 3,117 (19.1%) 0 about 9 weeks –
31,678 5,475 (17.3%) 0 about 10 weeks –
6,178 1,036 (16.8%) 0 about 9 weeks –
19,219 3,034 (15.8%) 0 about 9 weeks –
17,999 2,814 (15.6%) 0 about 9 weeks –
8,367 1,223 (14.6%) 0 about 9 weeks –
48,318 7,022 (14.5%) 3 about 8 weeks –
8,912 1,255 (14.1%) 0 about 9 weeks –
3,734 453 (12.1%) 0 about 7 weeks –
18,302 1,856 (10.1%) 0 about 7 weeks –
26,584 2,621 (9.9%) 12 about 6 weeks –
3,336 266 (8%) 0 about 10 weeks –
4,304 346 (8%) 0 about 5 weeks –
16,890 1,103 (6.5%) 2 about 7 weeks £50 to £80 (17 clinics)
3,680 191 (5.2%) 0 about 7 weeks –
8,236 345 (4.2%) 0 about 6 weeks –
10,426 423 (4.1%) 0 about 6 weeks £69 to £80 (3 clinics)
9,833 358 (3.6%) 0 about 6 weeks –
10,434 363 (3.5%) 0 about 6 weeks –
1,062 30 (2.8%) 0 about 6 weeks –
9,121 233 (2.6%) 2 about 6 weeks –
7,705 199 (2.6%) 0 about 5 weeks –
3,034 36 (1.2%) 1 about 4 weeks –
10,969 91 (0.8%) 0 about 5 weeks –
5,585 41 (0.7%) 0 about 5 weeks –
1,253 4 (0.3%) 0 about 3 weeks –
1,239 0 (0%) 0 about 4 weeks –

No data reported for August 2026: Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. That is not the same as having no waiting list.

How to read these figures

  • The counts are NHS England's, as providers reported them: people on a community musculoskeletal physiotherapy waiting list at the end of the month, grouped by how long they had waited so far. Not every provider reports every month, so a small list can mean missing returns rather than short waits.
  • The typical wait is our estimate. NHS England publishes bands, not individual waits, so the middle wait is worked out from the bands and is approximate.
  • NHS England merged several regions in March 2026. Changes over time are only given between months that cover exactly the same regions.
  • Providers join and leave the monthly returns, which can halve or double a region's list in a quarter without anyone being seen. A region whose list moved by 20% or more in 3 months is treated as a change in who reported: no change is quoted for it, and it is left out of the trend above. For August 2026 that is Birmingham and Solihull, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, Central East, Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, Norfolk and Suffolk, North East London, South East London, South Yorkshire.
  • Private prices are first appointments at physiotherapy clinics bookable on MediMo, shown only for regions with at least three. .

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. You are welcome to quote these figures; please credit MediMo and link to this page.