On February 9, 2026, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSEFT) published weekly waiting-time figures on the national My Planned Care website showing patients at Southend University Hospital face average waits of seven to eight months for several specialist consultations and treatments.
The My Planned Care data shows Oral Surgery (33 weeks) has the longest average wait. Upper GI (upper gastrointestinal) surgery and Orthopaedics (bone and joint treatment) each average about 32 weeks, and Hepatology (liver services) about 31 weeks. Dermatology first appointments take an average of 27 weeks. These figures fall well short of the NHS constitutional target of 18 weeks and reflect a large elective backlog at the trust.
Long waits for first outpatient appointments and specialist procedures can delay the diagnosis of serious illnesses and postpone the start of necessary treatment, which is especially consequential for people recently referred by their GPs.
Dawn Scrafield, Chief Executive of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, has acknowledged the scale of the problem, saying: “We know that we’ve got the longest waiting list in the country, and we know that in terms of our responsiveness to cancer, it’s not acceptable.” The trust has also been the subject of CQC scrutiny and enforcement in recent years, including a Section 31 notice in April 2024 and critical findings about leadership and governance in 2024–25.
The trust is implementing a new ‘Nova’ electronic patient record (EPR) system (procured from Oracle Health) that is intended to improve clinician access to real-time patient records and help streamline care pathways; the programme is scheduled to go live in 2026/27. The EPR forms part of a broader programme of digital investment and service change aimed at improving efficiency as the trust addresses financial and staffing challenges contributing to the elective backlog.
