Information on waiting timesand waiting lists for a first out-patient appointment following referral from ageneral medical or dental practitioner, is collected at specialty level onlyand not at hospital department level.The current national maximumwaiting time for a first out-patient appointment at a consultant-led clinic,following referral by a general medical or dental practitioner, is 26 weeks. Thiscommitment is being met by all NHS boards.The national maximum waiting timewill be reduced to 18 weeks from the end of this year.Median waiting times arederived from continuous retrospective data.