NHS Wait Helper

Hospital service waiting times

Orthopaedics waiting times at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

At the end of August 2026, 9,609 people were on the Orthopaedics at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust waiting list and about 5 in 10 people (54%) had been waiting less than 18 weeks.

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust · NHS trust · Orthopaedics across England

People waiting
9,609
End of August 2026
Under 18 weeks
54.4%
England: 60.9%
Over 52 weeks
352
Median wait
17 wks
Published median for this list

352 people (3.7%, roughly 1 in 27) had been waiting more than 52 weeks.

This hospital's published position is 6.5 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 7% of everyone waiting at Royal Free London 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): 54.4% of people on the waiting list at the end of August 2026 had been waiting under 18 weeks, compared with 52.8% 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
54.4%
3 months earlier · May 2026
48.7% then · change to latest +5.7 percentage points
6 months earlier · February 2026
46.2% then · change to latest +8.2 percentage points
12 months earlier · August 2025
52.8% then · change to latest +1.6 percentage points
Earliest available · April 2024
57.8% then · change to latest -3.4 percentage points
Month-by-month figures
Share waiting under 18 weeks by month
Month endUnder 18 weeksPeople waiting
August 202654.4%9,609
July 202650.5%10,647
June 202650.5%10,880
May 202648.7%10,778
April 202648.6%10,647
March 202649.7%10,407
February 202646.2%10,945
January 202646%11,185
December 202548.1%10,864
November 202547.5%11,176
October 202550.3%11,324
September 202551%11,442
August 202552.8%12,012
July 202553%11,941
June 202551.2%12,050
May 202552.6%11,546
April 202552.6%11,293
March 202553.8%10,805
February 202556.3%10,408
January 202557.3%10,206
December 202454.6%7,271
November 202457.7%6,962
October 202458.5%6,614
September 202457.8%6,317
August 202457.7%6,033
July 202457.5%5,757
June 202457.4%5,753
May 202459.5%5,555
April 202457.8%5,402
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
Whittington Health NHS Trust1.5 mi2,08978%+23.8 pp
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust2.2 mi3,44974%+19.3 pp
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust2.5 mi3,21564%+10.1 pp
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust4.3 mi5,15061%+7.1 pp
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust4.8 mi5,45956%+1.4 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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