At a glance: 40,229 people were waiting for NHS treatment at Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals in June 2026, spread across 15 specialties, and 398 of them had already waited more than a year. The hardest specialty to be seen quickly was oral surgery — only 53% of patients seen within the 18-week target and a median wait of 15 weeks — while general medicine was quickest at 100%.
Treatment waiting times at Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals
| Specialty | People waiting | Seen within 18 weeks | Waiting over a year | Median wait |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral surgery | 4,583 | 53% | 105 | 15 weeks |
| Gynaecology | 3,788 | 55% | 14 | 16 weeks |
| Urology | 1,995 | 57% | 32 | 15 weeks |
| Neurology | 989 | 58% | 1 | 15 weeks |
| ENT | 4,369 | 60% | 69 | 14 weeks |
| Gastroenterology | 1,657 | 63% | 6 | 14 weeks |
| Rheumatology | 390 | 64% | 0 | 11 weeks |
| Trauma & orthopaedics | 7,884 | 66% | 158 | 11 weeks |
| Dermatology | 5,094 | 66% | 1 | 12 weeks |
| Cardiology | 2,507 | 68% | 2 | 12 weeks |
| Ophthalmology | 4,945 | 68% | 8 | 11 weeks |
| Respiratory medicine | 1,287 | 69% | 2 | 11 weeks |
| General surgery | 362 | 75% | 0 | 11 weeks |
| Elderly medicine | 253 | 79% | 0 | 10 weeks |
| General medicine | 126 | 100% | 0 | 6 weeks |
Diagnostic test waiting times at Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals
| Test | People waiting | Waiting beyond 6 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Gastroscopy | 676 | 55% |
| Flexible sigmoidoscopy | 237 | 51% |
| Colonoscopy | 468 | 48% |
| Ultrasound | 6,069 | 24% |
| Urodynamics | 50 | 22% |
| CT | 722 | 9% |
| Cystoscopy | 134 | 5% |
| DEXA scan | 542 | 3% |
| Audiology | 316 | 2% |
| Echocardiography | 939 | 1% |
| MRI | 1,072 | 0% |
| Nerve conduction studies | 248 | 0% |
| Sleep studies | 193 | 0% |
The six-week point is where the NHS counts a diagnostic wait as a breach; at Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals the longest was gastroscopy, with 55% past it and 676 people in the queue.
Skip the 15-week wait
Waiting 15 weeks for oral surgery at Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals is a long time to be in pain or limbo. Private cover can have you seen by a consultant in days rather than months. It will not pay for a condition you are already waiting on, so it only helps if arranged before a problem starts — compare cover, see whether it is worth it, or get a free quote now.
Frequently asked questions
Can private cover skip the waiting list at Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals? Yes for a new problem, no for one you are already waiting to have treated — here is what private cover gets you over the NHS. For the national picture see oral surgery waits across England or our NHS waiting-time guides.
Source: NHS England Referral to Treatment (RTT) and Diagnostics (DM01) waiting-times statistics, June 2026; self-pay figures from UK private hospitals’ own published price lists. Waiting-list figures change monthly.