Data breaks down gap in NHS waiting times based on depravation
South Warwickshire University NHS Trust had the biggest divide in England
Last updated 17th Jul 2025
A major gap in NHS treatment times has been revealed in Warwickshire, based on levels of deprivation.
South Warwickshire University NHS Trust had the biggest divide in England, with people in poorer areas far more likely to wait over a year for care.
The latest figures cover the end of June and show a five-point difference in long waits across the county.
According to data, as reported by the PA Agency as a snapshot of the waiting list in the week ending June 29th, Eastern England and south-west England are the regions with the largest ethnicity gap for people waiting more than a year to begin hospital treatment.
In eastern England, 5% of patients identifying as African had been waiting over 12 months for treatment at the end of June, compared with 3.6% of Pakistani patients; while in south-west England, 2.6% of Chinese patients had been waiting more than a year, compared with 1.2% of Bangladeshi patients.
Regional variations are likely to be influenced by the different ethnic mix of local populations across England.
The new data also shows patients in certain ethnic groups are more likely to have to wait over a year to start hospital treatment than others.
Some 3.2% of patients in England identifying as Bangladeshi had been waiting more than 12 months to begin treatment at the end of June, along with 3.0% of patients of Pakistani and African backgrounds: higher proportions than those identifying as Caribbean (2.9%), Chinese (2.8%), British (2.8%) or Indian (2.7%).
South Warwickshire
The NHS trust with the largest deprivation gap is South Warwickshire University, where nearly five percentage points separate the proportion of patients in the most deprived areas who had been waiting over a year to start treatment, 7.1%, and those in the least deprived areas, 2.2%.
The next largest gap was for West Suffolk, with 8.7% in the most deprived areas and 4.4% in the least deprived, followed by St George's University Hospital in south London (5.1% and 2.2%); Mid-Cheshire (7.0% and 4.5%); and Liverpool University Hospital (4.9% and 2.8%).
Some 3.1% of patients living in the most deprived areas had been waiting more than 12 months to begin treatment at the end of June, compared with 2.7% in the least deprived.
The gap is even wider in some regions, with the figures for the Midlands ranging from 3.0% in the most deprived parts to 2.4% in the least deprived; from 2.4% to 1.8% in London; and from 4.9% to 4.0% in eastern England.
It is the first time data has been published showing a breakdown of the NHS waiting list in England by deprivation levels, and comes with additional breakdowns by age, sex and ethnicity.
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