New Data Reveals How Dermatology Waiting Times Have Grown Across the NHS

New Freedom of Information (FOI) data obtained by The Independent Pharmacy has revealed the scale of pressure facing NHS dermatology services across the UK, with waiting times at some trusts stretching well beyond a year and national figures showing sustained growth over the past five years.

The UK Flare Up Index, gathered from 22 NHS trusts and health boards with complete records across every year from 2020/21 to 2024/25, measured three areas of pressure: median waiting time, the number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks, and the number waiting more than a year, to build a full picture of where dermatology services are under the most sustained strain.

The NHS Trusts Under the Greatest Dermatology Pressure

Belfast Health and Social Care Trust recorded the highest overall pressure score of any organisation assessed, at 49.1, driven overwhelmingly by long-term waits rather than a single bad year. It averaged 6,210.6 patients waiting more than a year for dermatology care across the five years, more than five times the next-highest trust in the dataset.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust followed in second, with a score of 41.4. Its pressure showed up differently: the trust averaged more than 10,700 patients waiting over 18 weeks every year, more than three times any other trust assessed, despite a comparatively modest median wait of 11.8 weeks. University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust ranked third, with a score of 37.0, driven by the longest average median wait of any trust in the dataset, at 46.8 weeks.

Dermatology pressure doesn’t always look the same from trust to trust. Some, like Belfast, are defined by a smaller number of patients waiting extremely long periods. Others, like Barking, Havering and Redbridge, are managing a much larger volume of patients stuck just past the 18-week mark, and both represent sustained strain, just distributed differently across the waiting list.

The five-year window also shows the wider direction of travel. Across the 22 trusts and health boards assessed, the total number of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for dermatology care rose from 19,821 in 2020/21 to 41,074 in 2024/25, more than doubling. Patients waiting more than a year followed a similar pattern, climbing from 6,744 to 10,466 over the same period.

Overall, the findings suggest that dermatology pressure across the NHS is not a short-term backlog but a longer-term capacity issue that has continued to build well beyond the pandemic disruption that first drove waiting lists upward.

Speaking on the study, Dr Donald Grant, GP and Senior Clinical Advisor at The Independent Pharmacy, said:

“What this data shows is that dermatology waiting times in some parts of the country are not a temporary spike, but a sustained reality that patients have been living with for years. In areas like Belfast, patients waiting more than a year for treatment isn’t a rare exception, it’s become the norm.

“Waits like these matter because many skin conditions can worsen without proper treatment. Delayed access to specialist care can mean symptoms become more severe, harder to manage, and more likely to affect a patient’s confidence and quality of life in the meantime.

“A pharmacist is usually a good first port of call for a mild flare-up, and can often help manage symptoms without a referral at all. But for patients whose conditions genuinely need specialist assessment, waits of this length aren’t something individual advice can fix on its own.

“These figures point to a system that needs far more capacity in dermatology services, not just better self-management while people wait. Without that investment, waiting lists are likely to keep growing rather than ease.”