NHS Wait Helper

Hospital service waiting times

Orthopaedics waiting times at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

At the end of August 2026, 4,215 people were on the Orthopaedics at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust waiting list and about 5 in 10 people (51%) had been waiting less than 18 weeks.

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust · NHS trust · Orthopaedics across England

People waiting
4,215
End of August 2026
Under 18 weeks
51.2%
England: 60.9%
Over 52 weeks
72
Median wait
18 wks
Published median for this list

72 people (1.7%, roughly 1 in 59) had been waiting more than 52 weeks.

This hospital's published position is 9.7 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 12.8% of everyone waiting at West Suffolk 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): 51.2% of people on the waiting list at the end of August 2026 had been waiting under 18 weeks, compared with 50.4% 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
51.2%
3 months earlier · May 2026
51.7% then · change to latest -0.4 percentage points
6 months earlier · February 2026
50.1% then · change to latest +1.1 percentage points
12 months earlier · August 2025
50.4% then · change to latest +0.8 percentage points
Earliest available · April 2024
41.9% then · change to latest +9.3 percentage points
Month-by-month figures
Share waiting under 18 weeks by month
Month endUnder 18 weeksPeople waiting
August 202651.2%4,215
July 202651.5%4,344
June 202652.3%4,438
May 202651.7%4,269
April 202649.9%4,123
March 202651.3%3,989
February 202650.1%4,046
January 202651.2%4,079
December 202553%4,234
November 202552.2%4,114
October 202551.9%4,162
September 202550.9%4,059
August 202550.4%4,009
July 202549.6%4,161
June 202549.8%4,110
May 202547.9%4,182
April 202546.6%4,113
March 202545.9%4,177
February 202546.6%4,237
January 202545.9%4,341
December 202446.5%4,518
November 202446.6%4,501
October 202446.9%4,585
September 202446.5%4,745
August 202445.7%4,839
July 202444.5%4,858
June 202443%4,859
May 202443.4%4,903
April 202441.9%4,887
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 Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust23.6 mi10,69252%+1 pp
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust24.4 mi4,46258%+6.8 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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