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Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Papworth Road, Cambridge, CB2 0AY · Run by Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust · 01223638000

Acute hospital - NHS non-specialist

CQC: Outstanding

CQC rating published 16 October 2019 — this rating applies to this specific location. About CQC ratings

View the full CQC report & inspection history →

Contains public sector information from the Care Quality Commission, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

At a glance

Whether this trust meets each official NHS operational standard — not a combined score or ranking.

Waiting times
Below NHS standard
80.3% within 18 weeks · standard 92% · About this data
A&E
No data
No data · About this data
Cancer
Below NHS standard
66.7% treated within 62 days · standard 85% · About this data
Diagnostics
Below NHS standard
56.8% waiting 6+ weeks · standard 1.0% or fewer · About this data
Mortality (SHMI)
No data
No data · About this data

In plain English

AI-generated

Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust reported that 5,670 patients were on its waiting list in June 2026. The median wait for treatment was eight weeks, with 80.3% of patients seen within 18 weeks of referral. Additionally, 32 patients waited over 52 weeks, while 90.8% of staff would recommend the hospital in the 2025 survey.

Automatically generated from the official figures on this page and checked to restate only those figures. Last generated 17 August 2026. This is a plain-English summary, not medical advice. About these summaries

CQC inspection ratings

Safe
Outstanding
Effective
Outstanding
Caring
Outstanding
Responsive
Outstanding
Well-led
Outstanding

The Care Quality Commission rates hospitals on five questions. This location was last inspected November 2022. Source: CQC. About CQC ratings

CQC ratings by service

CQC rated these services individually — there is no single overall rating for this location.

Critical careGood
Safe
Good
Effective
Good
Caring
Good
Responsive
Good
Well-led
Good
rated October 2019
Diagnostic imagingOutstanding
Safe
Good
Caring
Good
Responsive
Outstanding
Well-led
Outstanding
rated October 2019
Medical care (including older people's care)Outstanding
Safe
Outstanding
Effective
Outstanding
Caring
Outstanding
Responsive
Outstanding
Well-led
Outstanding
rated October 2019
OutpatientsGood
Safe
Outstanding
Caring
Good
Responsive
Good
Well-led
Good
rated October 2019
SurgeryOutstanding
Safe
Good
Effective
Outstanding
Caring
Outstanding
Responsive
Good
Well-led
Outstanding
rated October 2019

Source: CQC. About CQC ratings

Performance at a glance

Treated or seen within 18 weeks
Trust-wide
80.3%
National median: 66.3%
12.7 pts vs yr agoBetter than 87% of trustsData: Jun 2026
Typical (median) wait
Trust-wide
8.0 wks
National median: 11.7 wks
4.0 wks vs yr agoBetter than 90% of trustsData: Jun 2026
Patients on the waiting list
Trust-wide
5,670
National median: 39,587
978 vs yr agoData: Jun 2026
Waiting over a year
Trust-wide
32
National median: 358.5
26 vs yr agoBetter than 77% of trustsData: Jun 2026

NHS England publishes waiting-time and A&E figures per trust, not per building — figures marked Trust-wide cover all hospitals run by Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Performance over time

Trust-wide (Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) · hover a month for the exact figure · monthly data table

Total waiting list
Incomplete pathways, all specialties
4,0006,0008,000Apr 21Jan 22Jan 24Jan 25Jan 265,6703,340April 20213,422May 20213,434June 20213,429July 20213,595August 20213,683September 20213,776October 20213,914November 20214,110December 20214,172January 20224,128February 20224,318March 20225,982April 20236,152May 20236,167June 20236,251July 20236,180August 20236,341September 20236,335October 20236,345November 20236,482December 20236,643January 20246,750February 20246,910March 20246,932April 20247,023May 20247,048June 20247,277July 20247,276August 20247,315September 20247,411October 20247,461November 20247,352December 20247,506January 20257,263February 20257,403March 20257,141April 20256,796May 20256,648June 20256,369July 20256,141August 20256,080September 20255,893October 20255,702November 20255,523December 20255,335January 20265,471February 20265,283March 20265,271April 20265,403May 20265,670June 2026
Waiting under 18 weeks
Share of the waiting list
60%70%80%90%Apr 21Jan 22Jan 24Jan 25Jan 26NHS standard 92%80.3%80.0%April 202183.5%May 202186.5%June 202186.3%July 202187.0%August 202186.1%September 202186.0%October 202186.5%November 202185.4%December 202184.3%January 202281.3%February 202279.6%March 202271.0%April 202371.8%May 202371.7%June 202372.0%July 202371.2%August 202370.5%September 202370.3%October 202368.8%November 202367.5%December 202368.1%January 202467.7%February 202467.0%March 202468.3%April 202467.7%May 202466.8%June 202465.8%July 202465.5%August 202465.2%September 202465.5%October 202464.5%November 202463.3%December 202463.7%January 202561.8%February 202563.0%March 202564.5%April 202565.4%May 202567.6%June 202567.6%July 202568.8%August 202572.1%September 202573.8%October 202574.3%November 202574.3%December 202575.5%January 202675.7%February 202678.8%March 202678.2%April 202680.3%May 202680.3%June 2026

Cancer waiting times

Trust-wide (Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) · Latest month: June 2026.

Faster diagnosis (28 days)
0.0%
0 of 7 treated in time
Target 75% · below target
Treatment within 62 days
66.7%
13 of 20 treated in time
Target 85% · below target
Treatment within 31 days
92.7%
38 of 41 treated in time
Target 96% · below target
Treated within 62 days
Urgent referral to first treatment
40%60%80%Apr 25Jan 26NHS standard 85%66.7%31.3%April 202539.4%May 202531.1%June 202530.0%July 202540.0%August 202540.5%September 202561.0%October 202576.0%November 202580.6%December 202583.8%January 202667.5%February 202676.7%March 202656.5%April 202657.5%May 202666.7%June 2026
Faster diagnosis (28 days)
Referral to diagnosis or ruling-out
0%25%50%75%100%May 25Jan 26NHS standard 75%0.0%0.0%May 20250.0%July 20250.0%September 20250.0%November 2025100.0%December 20250.0%January 20260.0%February 20260.0%March 20260.0%April 20260.0%May 20260.0%June 2026
Treated within 31 days
Decision to treat to first treatment
90%95%100%Apr 25Jan 26NHS standard 96%92.7%100.0%April 202593.8%May 2025100.0%June 2025100.0%July 2025100.0%August 202588.9%September 2025100.0%October 202595.7%November 2025100.0%December 2025100.0%January 2026100.0%February 2026100.0%March 2026100.0%April 202693.3%May 202692.7%June 2026

Source: NHS England Cancer Waiting Times. The 62-day standard is urgent referral to first treatment; the 28-day faster-diagnosis standard is referral to diagnosis or ruling-out. About this data

Patient experience (Friends & Family Test)

Trust-wide (Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) · Latest month: June 2026· a voluntary, monthly feedback survey — the figure is the share of respondents who rated their experience 'good' or 'very good'. Response rates are often low and respondents are self-selected, not a representative sample, so read this alongside the clinical measures above, not on its own.

Inpatient care
% would recommend
98.5%
Rated care 'good' or 'very good'
% would not recommend
0.2%
Rated care 'poor' or 'very poor'
Responses
821
Number of patients who gave feedback
Response rate
41.6%
Responses as a share of those eligible

Source: NHS England Friends & Family Test. About this data

Staff experience (NHS Staff Survey)

2025 · the views of staff who work at this trust — a measure of workforce culture, morale and confidence, not a direct measure of clinical outcomes. There is no official NHS target for these figures, so they are shown as context, never a pass or fail.

Staff happy for a friend or relative to be treated here
90.8%
Agreed · 2025 NHS Staff Survey▼ 0.1 pts vs 2024Median English trust: 63.9%
Staff engagement
7.33
out of 10 · 2025
Would recommend as a place to work
71.9%
Agreed · 2025

The NHS Staff Survey records the views of staff who chose to respond — a measure of workforce culture, morale and staff confidence, not a direct measure of clinical outcomes or safety. Response rates vary between trusts. England only; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run separate staff surveys on a different basis, so these figures are never compared across nations.

Source: NHS Staff Survey (NHS England), Open Government Licence. About this data

Cancelled operations

Trust-wide (Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) · Quarter ending 30 June 2026· last-minute cancellations for NON-CLINICAL reasons (no bed, no staff, an emergency taking priority) — not cancellations chosen by the patient or on clinical grounds. It's a raw count, so larger trusts naturally cancel more in absolute terms — read this alongside the other measures above, not on its own.

Last-minute cancellations
40
elective ops cancelled on the day, non-clinical reasons
Not rebooked within 28 days
12
the NHS standard is a new date within 28 days
% not rebooked in time
30.0%
share of cancelled ops without a new date inside 28 days

Source: NHS England (QMCO). About this data

Bed occupancy, ambulance handovers & delayed discharges (UEC Daily SitRep)

Trust-wide (Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) · Snapshot at 8am, 29 March 2026. This is unvalidated management information— NHS England's own label — and can be revised for up to 14 days after first publication. It is collected only during the winter Daily SitRep window, so this is the latest date the collection has published, not necessarily today. It measures operational pressure (how full the hospital is), NOT care quality — high occupancy is normal for NHS hospitals, especially in winter, and is not a safety or performance score. The ambulance-handover figures below cover winter 2025-26 as a period total(not a snapshot): the time from an ambulance arriving to the patient being handed over to A&E staff. The delayed-discharge figures cover the most recent 7 daysof the collection (not a snapshot, and not the whole winter): a patient who "no longer meets the criteria to reside" is medically ready to leave hospital, but how quickly they actually do mostly reflects social-care and community capacity to receive them — NOT the hospital's own clinical quality. A higher handover or delayed-discharge figure means more operational pressure — like the rest of this section, none of it is a measure of care quality, and it carries no colour grading, badge or ranking.

Adult general & acute bed occupancy
89.3%
159 occupied of 178 open
Adult critical care occupancy
93.5%
29 occupied of 31 open
Ambulance handovers over 30 minutes
85.3%
of 278 handovers, winter 2025-26
Ambulance handovers over 60 minutes
10.8%
of 278 handovers, winter 2025-26

Source: NHS England UEC Daily SitRep, Ambulance Handover and Acute Discharge SitRep collections. About this data

Patient experience — inpatient care

Trust-wide (Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) · CQC Adult Inpatient Survey, 2024 · scores are 0-10, and "better"/"worse" means the trust's score falls outside the range expected for a trust of its size (the CQC 95% expected range, centred on the national average) — a statistical-significance test, not a raw ranking. Based on 792 voluntary respondents (a question is only shown here where at least 30 people at this trust answered it). England only; response rates vary between trusts.

Response rate
65.2%
Share of those sampled who responded
Respondents
792
Of 1,250 sampled
Quality of information while waiting to be admitted
8.2/10
National average: 7.6/10
About the same as the national average
Cleanliness of your room or ward
9.7/10
National average: 8.9/10
Better than the national average
Confidence and trust in the doctors
9.6/10
National average: 9.0/10
Better than the national average
Confidence and trust in the nurses
9.4/10
National average: 8.9/10
Better than the national average
Enough nurses on duty
9.0/10
National average: 7.6/10
Better than the national average
Involved in decisions about your care and treatment
7.8/10
National average: 7.2/10
Better than the national average
Given enough privacy when examined or treated
9.8/10
National average: 9.4/10
Better than the national average
Given enough notice about when you would leave hospital
7.7/10
National average: 6.9/10
Better than the national average
Knew what would happen next with your care, before leaving hospital
7.3/10
National average: 6.7/10
Better than the national average

Source: Care Quality CommissionCQC Adult Inpatient Survey. About this data

Patient experience — cancer care

Trust-wide (Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) · National Cancer Patient Experience Survey, 2025 · scores are the % of patients giving the most positive answer (and an overall 0–10 rating), and "better"/"worse" means the trust's score falls outside the range expected for a trust of its size (the survey's 95% expected range, centred on the national average) — a statistical-significance test, not a raw ranking. Based on 33 patients treated for cancer by this trust (a question is only shown here where at least 10 people at this trust answered it). England only; response rates vary between trusts.

Response rate
Share of those sampled who responded
Respondents
33
Who took part
Overall rating of care
9.0/10
National average: 8.9/10
About the same as the national average
Cancer diagnosis explained understandably
72%
National average: 78%
About the same as the national average
Easy to contact your main contact person
91%
National average: 84%
About the same as the national average
Involved as much as wanted in treatment decisions
83%
National average: 80%
About the same as the national average
Confidence and trust in the team during hospital care
69%
National average: 78%
About the same as the national average
Always treated with respect and dignity in hospital
90%
National average: 88%
About the same as the national average
Possible side effects explained understandably
72%
National average: 74%
About the same as the national average
Given enough information about signs of cancer returning or spreading
57%
National average: 65%
About the same as the national average
The whole care team worked well together
89%
National average: 89%
About the same as the national average
Got the support needed from your GP practice since diagnosis
62%
National average: 45%
About the same as the national average

Source: NHS England (survey run by Picker on its behalf)National Cancer Patient Experience Survey. About this data

Diagnostic test waits

Trust-wide (Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) · Latest month: June 2026. The operational standard is that under 1% should wait more than 6 weeks.

Waiting 6+ weeks for a test
56.8%
of 5,953 patients on the diagnostic waiting list
TestWaiting list6+ weeks6+ weeks (count)13+ weeks
Cardiology1,38576.8%1,063879
MRI99475.4%749564
Respiratory physiology2,90949.4%1,438831
CT scan65219.2%1255
Waiting 6+ weeks for a diagnostic test
All tests combined
0%20%40%60%Apr 25Jan 2656.8%6.8%April 20258.4%May 20259.3%June 202513.0%July 202510.7%August 202511.0%September 20257.5%October 20258.3%November 20259.8%December 202515.1%January 20267.1%February 20265.1%March 202656.3%April 202657.5%May 202656.8%June 2026

Source: NHS England Diagnostic Waiting Times & Activity (DM01). About this data

Safety: infections

Trust-wide (Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) · Cases in the 12 months to July 2026. Hospital-onset cases are those most likely acquired in hospital.

InfectionCases (12 mo)Hospital-onset
MRSA bacteraemia10
C. difficile1612
E. coli bacteraemia117
MSSA bacteraemia1712
Klebsiella bacteraemia86
Pseudomonas bacteraemia63
Hospital-onset cases per month
All infections combined
02.557.5Dec 23Jan 25Jan 2644December 20234January 20246February 20245March 20244April 20243May 20243June 20242July 20243August 20242September 20248October 20244November 20244December 20241January 20252February 20252March 20252April 20253May 20254June 20254July 20252August 20250September 20252October 20254November 20252December 20253January 20262February 20265March 20267April 20264May 20265June 20264July 2026

Source: UK Health Security Agency mandatory surveillance. About this data

Waiting times by specialty

Trust-wide (Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) · Data: June 2026 · Source: NHS England Referral to Treatment statistics

SpecialtyWaitingWithin 18 wksMedian wait9 in 10 wait under52+ wks65+ wks78+ wks
Respiratory Medicine2,93895.5%6.0 wks15.5 wks000
Cardiology2,19060.0%13.8 wks39.9 wks2830
Cardiothoracic Surgery54280.3%8.5 wks27.2 wks420

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Nearby hospitals

Compare Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust with 4 North East (4NE) Ward

About this data

Every figure on this page comes from an official publication: NHS England Referral to Treatment statistics, NHS England A&E statistics, and the Care Quality Commission directory. Data periods are shown against each figure — NHS England publishes with a lag of around six weeks. Read the full methodology.