NHS Wait Helper

Hospital service waiting times

Rheumatology waiting times at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

At the end of August 2026, 931 people were on the Rheumatology at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust waiting list and about 7 in 10 people (73%) had been waiting less than 18 weeks.

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

People waiting
931
End of August 2026
Under 18 weeks
73.4%
England: 70.4%
Over 52 weeks
1
Median wait
12 wks
Published median for this list

1 people (0.1%, roughly 1 in 1000) had been waiting more than 52 weeks.

This hospital's published position is broadly in line with the England picture 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 2.8% of everyone waiting at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.

How published 18-week performance has changed

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

18-week performance deteriorated

Published 18-week performance for Rheumatology at this organisation has deteriorated over the past 12 months: 73.4% of people on the waiting list at the end of August 2026 had been waiting under 18 weeks, compared with 93% 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
73.4%
3 months earlier · May 2026
92.7% then · change to latest -19.4 percentage points
6 months earlier · February 2026
90.2% then · change to latest -16.8 percentage points
12 months earlier · August 2025
93% then · change to latest -19.6 percentage points
Earliest available · April 2024
88.4% then · change to latest -15 percentage points
Month-by-month figures
Share waiting under 18 weeks by month
Month endUnder 18 weeksPeople waiting
August 202673.4%931
July 202683.8%879
June 202690.6%799
May 202692.7%728
April 202692.2%642
March 202692.9%538
February 202690.2%488
January 202689.8%459
December 202590.9%449
November 202591.5%446
October 202594.3%435
September 202595%460
August 202593%471
July 202593.3%415
June 202595.5%418
May 202595.2%356
April 202593.7%315
March 202589.9%287
February 202586.9%245
January 202588.6%255
December 202489.6%221
November 202490.3%206
October 202491.6%215
September 202487.6%201
August 202489.3%270
July 202487.9%289
June 202487.1%280
May 202489.8%313
April 202488.4%335
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 rheumatology 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 Rheumatology
TrustDistanceWaitingUnder 18 weeksDifference
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust23.6 mi2,36258%-15.4 pp
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust24.4 mi1,82485%+11.8 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.

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