diff --git a/app/backend/src/health/health.controller.ts b/app/backend/src/health/health.controller.ts
index 5e2d724f..1d29c075 100644
--- a/app/backend/src/health/health.controller.ts
+++ b/app/backend/src/health/health.controller.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,11 @@ import {
 import { Response } from 'express';
 import { RequestWithRequestId } from '../middleware/request-correlation.middleware';
 import { HealthService } from './health.service';
-import { LivenessResponse, ReadinessResponse } from './health.service';
+import {
+  LivenessResponse,
+  ReadinessResponse,
+  DependenciesResponse,
+} from './health.service';
 import { API_VERSIONS } from '../common/constants/api-version.constants';
 import { Public } from '../common/decorators/public.decorator';
 import { Throttle } from '@nestjs/throttler';
@@ -109,7 +113,27 @@ export class HealthController {
 
     return readiness;
   }
-
+  @Public()
+  @Get('dependencies')
+  @Version(API_VERSIONS.V1)
+  @ApiOperation({
+    summary: 'Dependency health with on-chain latency',
+    description:
+      'Reports the time taken for an on-chain RPC call as onchain_rpc_ms. Status is "degraded" if it exceeds 5s.',
+  })
+  @ApiOkResponse({ description: 'Dependency health retrieved.' })
+  @ApiServiceUnavailableResponse({
+    description: 'On-chain dependency is down.',
+  })
+  async dependencies(
+    @Res({ passthrough: true }) res: Response,
+  ): Promise<DependenciesResponse> {
+    const result = await this.healthService.getDependenciesHealth();
+    if (result.status === 'down') {
+      res.status(HttpStatus.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE); // only "down" is a 503
+    }
+    return result;
+  }
   @Get('error')
   @Version(API_VERSIONS.V1)
   @ApiOperation({ summary: 'Trigger an error for testing' })
diff --git a/app/backend/src/health/health.service.ts b/app/backend/src/health/health.service.ts
index 9fe1fd5c..6853b445 100644
--- a/app/backend/src/health/health.service.ts
+++ b/app/backend/src/health/health.service.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,16 @@ export interface ReadinessResponse {
   };
 }
 
+export interface DependenciesResponse {
+  status: 'ok' | 'degraded' | 'down'; // degraded = alive but slow
+  service: 'backend';
+  timestamp: string;
+  checks: {
+    onchain_rpc_ms: number; // the number the issue asks for
+    onchain: 'up' | 'down';
+  };
+}
+
 @Injectable()
 export class HealthService {
   constructor(
@@ -114,6 +124,44 @@ export class HealthService {
     };
   }
 
+  async getDependenciesHealth(): Promise<DependenciesResponse> {
+    const ONCHAIN_THRESHOLD_MS = 5000; // 5s = the "too slow" line from the issue
+
+    const startTime = Date.now(); // stopwatch START
+    let onchainStatus: 'up' | 'down' = 'up';
+
+    try {
+      // The one RPC call we time. Swap to getAdmin() if the maintainer asks.
+      await this.onchainAdapter.getContractMetadata();
+    } catch (error) {
+      onchainStatus = 'down';
+      const message =
+        error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Unknown on-chain error';
+      this.logger.warn('Dependencies on-chain check failed', 'HealthService', {
+        error: message,
+      });
+    }
+
+    const onchainRpcMs = Date.now() - startTime; // stopwatch STOP → elapsed ms
+
+    // Decide overall status: dead > slow > healthy
+    let status: 'ok' | 'degraded' | 'down' = 'ok';
+    if (onchainStatus === 'down') {
+      status = 'down';
+    } else if (onchainRpcMs > ONCHAIN_THRESHOLD_MS) {
+      status = 'degraded';
+    }
+
+    return {
+      status,
+      service: 'backend',
+      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
+      checks: {
+        onchain_rpc_ms: onchainRpcMs,
+        onchain: onchainStatus,
+      },
+    };
+  }
   logHealthCheck(requestId?: string) {
     this.logger.log('Health check endpoint accessed', 'HealthService', {
       requestId,
diff --git a/app/backend/test/health.e2e-spec.ts b/app/backend/test/health.e2e-spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9fa56e9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/backend/test/health.e2e-spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+import { Test, TestingModule } from '@nestjs/testing';
+import { INestApplication } from '@nestjs/common';
+import request from 'supertest';
+import { App } from 'supertest/types';
+import { ConfigService } from '@nestjs/config';
+import { RedisService } from '@liaoliaots/nestjs-redis';
+import { HealthController } from './../src/health/health.controller';
+import { HealthService } from './../src/health/health.service';
+import { PrismaService } from './../src/prisma/prisma.service';
+import { LoggerService } from './../src/logger/logger.service';
+import { ONCHAIN_ADAPTER_TOKEN } from './../src/onchain/onchain.adapter';
+
+describe('Health dependencies (e2e)', () => {
+  let app: INestApplication<App>;
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    const moduleFixture: TestingModule = await Test.createTestingModule({
+      controllers: [HealthController], // the horn
+      providers: [
+        HealthService, // the wiring behind it (real logic runs)
+        // Fake on-chain adapter: instant, no real network call.
+        {
+          provide: ONCHAIN_ADAPTER_TOKEN,
+          useValue: {
+            getContractMetadata: () =>
+              Promise.resolve({
+                version: '1.0.0',
+                name: 'AidEscrow',
+                timestamp: new Date(),
+              }),
+          },
+        },
+        // Empty stubs for deps our method doesn't use, but the
+        // service still asks for at construction time.
+        { provide: ConfigService, useValue: { get: () => undefined } },
+        {
+          provide: LoggerService,
+          useValue: { log: () => {}, warn: () => {}, error: () => {} },
+        },
+        { provide: PrismaService, useValue: {} },
+        { provide: RedisService, useValue: {} },
+      ],
+    }).compile();
+
+    app = moduleFixture.createNestApplication();
+    await app.init();
+  });
+
+  afterEach(async () => {
+    await app.close();
+  });
+
+  it('/health/dependencies (GET) reports onchain_rpc_ms', () => {
+    return request(app.getHttpServer())
+      .get('/health/dependencies')
+      .expect(200)
+      .expect(
+        (res: {
+          body: {
+            status: string;
+            checks: { onchain: string; onchain_rpc_ms: number };
+          };
+        }) => {
+          expect(res.body.status).toBe('ok');
+          expect(res.body.checks.onchain).toBe('up');
+          expect(typeof res.body.checks.onchain_rpc_ms).toBe('number');
+        },
+      );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/app/frontend/openapi.json b/app/frontend/openapi.json
index c7f11262..6c0148c1 100644
--- a/app/frontend/openapi.json
+++ b/app/frontend/openapi.json
@@ -157,6 +157,25 @@
         ]
       }
     },
+    "/api/v1/health/dependencies": {
+      "get": {
+        "description": "Reports the time taken for an on-chain RPC call as onchain_rpc_ms. Status is \"degraded\" if it exceeds 5s.",
+        "operationId": "HealthController_dependencies_v1",
+        "parameters": [],
+        "responses": {
+          "200": {
+            "description": "Dependency health retrieved."
+          },
+          "503": {
+            "description": "On-chain dependency is down."
+          }
+        },
+        "summary": "Dependency health with on-chain latency",
+        "tags": [
+          "Health"
+        ]
+      }
+    },
     "/api/v1/health/error": {
       "get": {
         "operationId": "HealthController_triggerError_v1",