NHS Wait Helper

Hospital service waiting times

Orthopaedics waiting times at West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

At the end of August 2026, 5,047 people were on the Orthopaedics at West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust waiting list and about 5 in 10 people (53%) had been waiting less than 18 weeks.

West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust · NHS trust · Orthopaedics across England

People waiting
5,047
End of August 2026
Under 18 weeks
53.2%
England: 60.9%
Over 52 weeks
108
Median wait
17 wks
Published median for this list

108 people (2.1%, roughly 1 in 48) had been waiting more than 52 weeks.

This hospital's published position is 7.7 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 11.4% of everyone waiting at West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

How published 18-week performance has changed

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

18-week performance deteriorated

Published 18-week performance for Orthopaedics at this organisation has deteriorated over the past 12 months: 53.2% of people on the waiting list at the end of August 2026 had been waiting under 18 weeks, compared with 57.8% 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
53.2%
3 months earlier · May 2026
55.2% then · change to latest -1.9 percentage points
6 months earlier · February 2026
56.9% then · change to latest -3.6 percentage points
12 months earlier · August 2025
57.8% then · change to latest -4.6 percentage points
Earliest available · April 2024
46.9% 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 202653.2%5,047
July 202655.3%5,052
June 202655.2%4,826
May 202655.2%4,566
April 202657.2%4,567
March 202656.8%4,414
February 202656.9%4,240
January 202657.5%4,173
December 202557.1%4,037
November 202559%4,058
October 202558.9%3,990
September 202559%3,958
August 202557.8%3,941
July 202557.9%3,866
June 202557.3%3,798
May 202556.3%3,738
April 202555.3%3,792
March 202555.9%3,803
February 202553.9%3,843
January 202555.8%3,805
December 202458.9%3,788
November 202460.7%3,731
October 202458.4%3,911
September 202458.6%3,901
August 202454.2%3,999
July 202447.9%4,016
June 202445.9%4,061
May 202446.6%4,155
April 202446.9%4,324
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
Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust4.2 mi4,77478%+24.5 pp
London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust6.2 mi6,56660%+6.3 pp
The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust8.8 mi5,99360%+6.6 pp
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust9.4 mi4,88156%+2.9 pp
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust12.2 mi9,60954%+1.1 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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