NHS Wait Helper

Hospital service waiting times

General surgery waiting times at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust

At the end of August 2026, 778 people were on the General surgery at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust waiting list and about 9 in 10 people (89%) had been waiting less than 18 weeks.

University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust · NHS trust · General surgery across England

People waiting
778
End of August 2026
Under 18 weeks
89.3%
England: 63.2%
Over 52 weeks
4
Median wait
3 wks
Published median for this list

4 people (0.5%, roughly 1 in 200) had been waiting more than 52 weeks.

This hospital's published position is 26.1 percentage points better than 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 1.2% of everyone waiting at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust.

How published 18-week performance has changed

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

18-week performance broadly stable

Published 18-week performance for General surgery at this organisation has been broadly stable over the past 12 months (a change of under 3 percentage points): 89.3% of people on the waiting list at the end of August 2026 had been waiting under 18 weeks, compared with 86.6% 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
89.3%
3 months earlier · May 2026
92.3% then · change to latest -3 percentage points
6 months earlier · February 2026
86% then · change to latest +3.3 percentage points
12 months earlier · August 2025
86.6% then · change to latest +2.7 percentage points
Earliest available · April 2024
95.7% then · change to latest -6.3 percentage points
Month-by-month figures
Share waiting under 18 weeks by month
Month endUnder 18 weeksPeople waiting
August 202689.3%778
July 202690.3%838
June 202693.8%1,106
May 202692.3%1,019
April 202691.2%1,143
March 202691.7%894
February 202686%902
January 202688.3%802
December 202589.2%694
November 202588.8%788
October 202588.6%1,011
September 202585%668
August 202586.6%704
July 202587.5%713
June 202586%621
May 202580%490
April 202587.4%660
March 202584.3%918
February 202579.4%933
January 202585.3%943
December 202492.2%985
November 202485.7%888
October 202486.2%915
September 202484.2%946
August 202484.1%920
July 202478.1%832
June 202483.5%1,089
May 202493.1%2,012
April 202495.7%2,991
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.
  • This specialty covers many conditions and treatments. These figures are not specific to any one operation or condition.
  • 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 general surgery 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 General surgery
TrustDistanceWaitingUnder 18 weeksDifference
Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust20.7 mi1,40846%-42.9 pp
Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust23.6 mi1,19866%-23.2 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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