Two Black Country NHS Trusts have significantly reduced patient waiting times for hospital treatment, with both recording major improvements over the past year.

At the end of March 2026, 73.2 per cent of patients at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust were waiting less than 18 weeks for treatment, while the figure stood at 60.6 per cent at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.

For Walsall, this represented a 3.7 per cent improvement compared with March 2025 and means the Trust has now recorded the best 18-week performance in the Midlands region for 18 consecutive months.

Meanwhile, Wolverhampton achieved a 9.2 per cent improvement over the same period, making it one of the most improved Trusts nationally for reducing treatment waiting times.

The number of people waiting for treatment also fell sharply at both organisations. Walsall’s overall waiting list reduced from 28,681 patients to 27,304, while Wolverhampton’s dropped from 88,354 to 72,443 — its lowest total in four years.

Joe Chadwick-Bell, Group Chief Executive, said: “These improvements reflect the dedication and hard work of our staff across both Trusts.

“Reducing waiting times and treating people more quickly remains a key priority, and it is encouraging to see real progress being made for patients across the Black Country.

“We now need to keep building on this improvement and focus on reshaping our services to ensure that patients have timely access to care when they need it.

“We have an ambitious programme of improvement across our two organisations that aims to improve efficiency further, utilise digital innovation and deliver high-quality care across all our planned care services.”