Waiting List Conference 2026: From Backlog to Breakthrough

The NHS Waiting List Conference is a landmark event dedicated to one of the NHS’s most complex and urgent challenges: elective care waiting lists.

With waiting lists in England now exceeding seven million, the impact on patients, staff, and the wider economy is impossible to ignore. The government has set ambitious targets to cut waiting times — but it’s clear that traditional approaches alone won’t be enough.

That’s why the theme of our conference (taking place on 16-17 September), From Backlog to Breakthrough, is more than just a slogan — it’s a shared call to action.

Waiting lists are what systems thinkers call a wicked problem: a complex, adaptive challenge that resists simple solutions and demands new ways of thinking,  learning, and innovating together.