NHS Wait Helper

Hospital service waiting times

Orthopaedics waiting times at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

At the end of August 2026, 7,426 people were on the Orthopaedics at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust waiting list and about 5 in 10 people (46%) had been waiting less than 18 weeks.

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · NHS trust · Orthopaedics across England

People waiting
7,426
End of August 2026
Under 18 weeks
45.5%
England: 60.9%
Over 52 weeks
482
Median wait
21 wks
Published median for this list

482 people (6.5%, roughly 1 in 15) had been waiting more than 52 weeks.

This hospital's published position is 15.4 percentage points behind the England figure for this service.

Why this page exists

This page combines facts that neither the organisation page nor the England specialty page shows on its own: the current published figure for this one service at this one organisation; how that figure has moved over the months we hold; the England figure for the same service in the same month; other NHS trusts within 25 miles reporting the same service; the published median wait and 52-week count for this list; the other services this organisation reports. This service accounts for 8.5% of everyone waiting at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

How published 18-week performance has changed

Orthopaedics, NHS England Referral to Treatment figures, April 2024 to August 2026.

18-week performance broadly stable

Published 18-week performance for Orthopaedics at this organisation has been broadly stable over the past 12 months (a change of under 3 percentage points): 45.5% of people on the waiting list at the end of August 2026 had been waiting under 18 weeks, compared with 43.4% at the end of August 2025.

Share of people on the waiting list who had been waiting under 18 weeks, at the end of each month. Scale runs from 0% to 100%.
Latest · August 2026
45.5%
3 months earlier · May 2026
42.8% then · change to latest +2.7 percentage points
6 months earlier · February 2026
43.7% then · change to latest +1.9 percentage points
12 months earlier · August 2025
43.4% then · change to latest +2.1 percentage points
Earliest available · April 2024
48% then · change to latest -2.5 percentage points
Month-by-month figures
Share waiting under 18 weeks by month
Month endUnder 18 weeksPeople waiting
August 202645.5%7,426
July 202645%7,249
June 202642%6,749
May 202642.8%6,688
April 202643.3%6,422
March 202643.5%6,828
February 202643.7%7,140
January 202643.5%7,310
December 202544.1%7,377
November 202544.2%7,326
October 202544.3%7,342
September 202543.5%7,133
August 202543.4%7,147
July 202545.3%7,090
June 202545.9%6,892
May 202543.9%7,058
April 202541.2%7,250
March 202540%7,032
February 202540.6%6,596
January 202542.7%6,689
December 202444.1%6,708
November 202444.7%6,751
October 202443.5%6,704
September 202445.3%6,656
August 202443%6,667
July 202442.3%6,574
June 202445.7%6,437
May 202447.3%6,330
April 202448%6,173
How we calculate change
  • Each month's figure is the number of people waiting under 18 weeks divided by everyone on the waiting list, from NHS England's published monthly files.
  • Changes compare the latest month with exactly 3, 6 and 12 months earlier, only where both months are published and the list has at least 50 people.
  • The 12-month label is "improved" or "deteriorated" only if the share moved by 3 percentage points or more; smaller moves are called "broadly stable".
  • Where NHS England reissued a month's file, we use the revised file. Months we do not have are left as gaps and never estimated.
  • Earlier months come from our archive of NHS England's published files and are checked against our current figures wherever both exist.

What these figures cannot tell you

  • These are whole-list figures for one specialty at one organisation. They describe the published waiting list, not how long any one person will wait.
  • Trauma and Orthopaedics covers many conditions and operations. These figures are not specific to hip or knee replacement.
  • Figures are published for the whole organisation, which may run several hospital sites. They do not show the position at any single site.
  • Patients are prioritised by clinical need, so people on the same list can wait very different times.
  • A higher share within 18 weeks is not a measure of the quality of care.

Other NHS trusts offering orthopaedics within 25 miles

Published figures only. These are whole-list figures for each organisation in one month; a different organisation's published position does not mean an individual referral would move faster there.

Alternative trusts for Orthopaedics
TrustDistanceWaitingUnder 18 weeksDifference
East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust11.4 mi4,91748%+2.1 pp
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust14.4 mi3,07157%+11.2 pp
West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust17.2 mi5,04753%+7.7 pp
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust17.2 mi4,88156%+10.6 pp
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust19.4 mi4,77478%+32.2 pp

What these figures cannot tell you

  • Where you are in a queue, or when you will be seen or treated.
  • How urgent your own referral is. These are aggregate waiting-list figures and do not show the clinical priority of an individual patient.
  • Anything about a specific consultant, clinic or site within a trust.
  • What will happen next month: these are end-of-month snapshots of a past period.

Related guides on this site

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