Kent and Medway NHS Waiting Lists Still Above 2023 Despite Fall

Across Kent and Medway’s four acute hospital trusts, the hospital waiting list is lower than its March 2024 peak — but still higher than it was three years ago.

Kent’s NHS waiting-list story isn’t a simple “good news” tale. It’s more like finding the kitchen fire has been put out, only to discover the smoke alarm is still screaming. Shepway Vox analysed NHS England’s Referral to Treatment incomplete provider data for March 2023, March 2024, March 2025 and March 2026, using only Kent and Medway’s four acute hospital trusts: Dartford and Gravesham, Medway, East Kent Hospitals, and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells.

Across the four acute trusts, the combined waiting list stood at 181,673 incomplete RTT pathways in March 2023. It rose to 199,588 in March 2024, barely shifted to 199,201 in March 2025, then fell to 189,051 in March 2026. So, yes, the queue is shorter than at the 2024 peak. But it’s still 7,378 pathways higher than March 2023 — up 4.1%.

These are incomplete RTT pathways, not necessarily unique human beings. RTT means Referral to Treatment, the NHS measure for people still waiting for planned consultant-led care. One patient can have more than one pathway. But that caveat cuts both ways: these are still unfinished hospital journeys, not imaginary spreadsheet goblins.

East Kent Hospitals remains the biggest pressure point. In March 2026 it had 79,207 incomplete pathways, almost 42% of the four-trust total. That’s lower than its March 2024 peak of 85,396, but still higher than the 74,973 recorded in March 2023. In other words, East Kent has improved from “very bad”, but it hasn’t returned to where it was.

Dartford and Gravesham saw the sharpest rise over the period, up from 24,847 pathways in March 2023 to 29,570 in March 2026 — an increase of 4,723, or 19.0%. Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells rose from 45,019 to 46,178. Medway went the other way, falling from 36,834 to 34,096, making it the only one of the four acute trusts with a lower March 2026 waiting list than March 2023.

The long-wait picture is more dramatic. Across the four trusts, waits over 52 weeks stood at 3,757 in March 2023, surged to 9,440 in March 2024, then fell to 4,580 in March 2025 and 2,506 in March 2026. That’s a major fall from the 2024 peak, and it shouldn’t be dismissed.

But the March 2026 long-wait burden is not evenly spread. East Kent Hospitals accounted for 1,848 of the 2,506 waits over 52 weeks — nearly three quarters of the local total. Dartford and Gravesham had 349, Medway had 285, and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells had 24. The worst local pressure, once again, sits heavily in East Kent.

The very longest waits have come down sharply. Across the four trusts, 78-week-plus waits fell from 494 in March 2024 to just six in March 2026. Waits over 65 weeks fell from 2,576 to 73 over the same period. That’s real improvement, not statistical confetti.

The 18-week standard still tells a more sober story. In March 2026, 119,143 of 189,051 incomplete pathways were within 18 weeks — 63.0%. Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells had the strongest local position at 76.1%; East Kent had the weakest at 56.5%. So the headline improvement hides a familiar Kent problem: the queue is shorter than it was, but for many patients it’s still far too long.

The backlog has eased since 2024. The longest waits have fallen hard. But Kent’s acute hospital waiting list remains above March 2023, and East Kent continues to carry the heaviest load. For residents, the question isn’t whether the numbers have improved. It’s whether the queue is moving quickly enough for the people still stuck inside it.

Seen something the public should know about? Send tips, documents or concerns to TheShepwayVoxTeam(at)proton(dot)me. You can contact us in confidence, speak off the record in the first instance, and help us follow the evidence where it leads.

The Shepway Vox Team

Discernibly Different Dissent