Heart problems waiting times

If you have chest pain, severe breathlessness, fainting or a sudden irregular heartbeat, this is a medical emergency: call 999 now. This page is for planned, non-urgent heart investigations only. For those, the first hurdle is usually getting seen and tested, not the treatment. Once you have been referred, the NHS treats you free, but the wait to be seen and to have heart tests can run many months depending on where you live. You have more choice than you might think: you can stay where you are, switch to a faster NHS hospital for free, or pay privately for the tests, usually within days, and then rejoin the NHS. A private cardiology consultation is around £150 to £300 and often includes an ECG, an echocardiogram (a heart ultrasound) is around £300 to £550, and a rhythm monitor for palpitations is around £120 to £420, and your clinician decides which you need. Going fully private for heart treatment itself is unusual, since procedures such as an ablation, a stent or a pacemaker are expensive and normally arranged through insurance rather than paid for directly, so the useful private option here is a faster diagnosis, not private surgery. Below you can see the real wait at each hospital, and all your options.

Updated July 2026 · NHS RTT data

The national picture

Across England, half of Cardiology patients are treated within 14 weeks; the average is 17, and 1 in 5 wait longer than 31 weeks.

Pooled across 119 NHS trusts (60,914 patients). Source: NHS RTT, July 2026.

Seen a different number elsewhere? Why every website gives a different NHS wait →

Your three routes

We don't tell you which to pick: we give you the honest shape of each and let you decide.

If a private consultation is what gets you referred, your NHS wait starts from that referral, not from when your symptoms began or when you first saw your GP. You lose nothing by going private first, because you had no NHS clock running to lose. But you do not gain a head start either. Ask your GP for an NHS referral at the same time, so the clock starts while you are being seen privately.

What it costs privately

Private treatment cost varies with the procedure your consultant recommends, and is quoted before you commit.

Typical UK self-pay package prices, reviewed periodically.

See every NHS trust's heart problems wait, ranked fastest first →

See the heart problems wait at every NHS hospital, ranked fastest first →

Browse all NHS waiting times →

Common questions

About heart problems

What it is

Heart problems, in the sense this page covers, means symptoms that are being looked into in a planned, non-urgent way, such as palpitations (a fluttering, pounding or irregular heartbeat), a heart murmur, or breathlessness that a GP wants investigated. Many turn out to be harmless or easily managed, but because the heart is involved, the usual approach is to run some tests to understand what is going on before deciding whether any treatment is needed.

How it is usually treated

The first steps are tests rather than treatment: an ECG to record the heart's rhythm, blood tests, and often a heart scan (an echocardiogram) or a monitor worn for a day or more to capture an irregular beat. What follows depends on the results. Many people need only reassurance or changes to lifestyle, such as cutting down on caffeine or alcohol; others are started on medicine to control the heart rate, rhythm or blood pressure. More specialised care, if needed, is arranged by the heart team.

After treatment

For most people whose tests are reassuring, the outcome is advice and, where helpful, a medicine to manage symptoms, with a review to check it is working. Symptoms such as occasional palpitations can often be kept in check once any trigger is known. It is important to keep taking any medicine as advised, and to go back to your doctor if symptoms change or get worse.

General information only, not medical advice. Your GP or specialist will advise on your own situation.

Written by the Wait or Pay team and sourced to the NHS. Last reviewed September 2026.