At a glance: 50,489 people were waiting for NHS treatment at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in June 2026, spread across 15 specialties, and 731 of them had already waited more than a year. The hardest specialty to be seen quickly was oral surgery — only 44% of patients seen within the 18-week target and a median wait of 20 weeks — while cardiology was quickest at 97%.
Treatment waiting times at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
| Specialty | People waiting | Seen within 18 weeks | Waiting over a year | Median wait |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral surgery | 2,165 | 44% | 83 | 20 weeks |
| Plastic surgery | 3,182 | 49% | 193 | 18 weeks |
| Trauma & orthopaedics | 5,511 | 54% | 151 | 16 weeks |
| ENT | 5,613 | 55% | 125 | 16 weeks |
| General surgery | 4,392 | 57% | 96 | 15 weeks |
| Neurology | 1,508 | 60% | 0 | 15 weeks |
| Ophthalmology | 2,448 | 65% | 51 | 13 weeks |
| Urology | 6,782 | 68% | 32 | 13 weeks |
| Dermatology | 5,429 | 75% | 0 | 10 weeks |
| Rheumatology | 1,258 | 75% | 0 | 11 weeks |
| Gastroenterology | 1,795 | 84% | 0 | 10 weeks |
| Respiratory medicine | 1,509 | 86% | 0 | 9 weeks |
| Gynaecology | 6,633 | 87% | 0 | 8 weeks |
| Elderly medicine | 287 | 92% | 0 | 7 weeks |
| Cardiology | 1,977 | 97% | 0 | 8 weeks |
Diagnostic test waiting times at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
| Test | People waiting | Waiting beyond 6 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep studies | 344 | 77% |
| Echocardiography | 1,467 | 32% |
| CT | 2,469 | 29% |
| Urodynamics | 95 | 27% |
| Ultrasound | 7,567 | 19% |
| Cystoscopy | 252 | 12% |
| Nerve conduction studies | 204 | 10% |
| Colonoscopy | 627 | 10% |
| MRI | 2,582 | 8% |
| Barium enema | 76 | 7% |
| Flexible sigmoidoscopy | 181 | 6% |
| Audiology | 144 | 3% |
| Gastroscopy | 541 | 3% |
| DEXA scan | 437 | 1% |
The six-week point is where the NHS counts a diagnostic wait as a breach; at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital the longest was sleep studies, with 77% past it and 344 people in the queue.
Skip the 20-week wait
Waiting 20 weeks for oral surgery at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital 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 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital? 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.