At a glance: 23,473 people were waiting for NHS treatment at Countess of Chester Hospital in June 2026, spread across 15 specialties, and 177 of them had already waited more than a year. The hardest specialty to be seen quickly was oral surgery — only 45% of patients seen within the 18-week target and a median wait of 20 weeks — while rheumatology was quickest at 95%.
Treatment waiting times at Countess of Chester Hospital
| Specialty | People waiting | Seen within 18 weeks | Waiting over a year | Median wait |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral surgery | 2,237 | 45% | 28 | 20 weeks |
| Gynaecology | 2,923 | 57% | 97 | 14 weeks |
| Trauma & orthopaedics | 2,417 | 63% | 2 | 12 weeks |
| Ophthalmology | 3,467 | 66% | 8 | 11 weeks |
| General surgery | 1,048 | 68% | 6 | 12 weeks |
| ENT | 2,983 | 70% | 18 | 12 weeks |
| Urology | 1,313 | 71% | 0 | 10 weeks |
| Plastic surgery | 963 | 72% | 11 | 7 weeks |
| Dermatology | 2,493 | 74% | 3 | 10 weeks |
| Respiratory medicine | 1,131 | 85% | 2 | 6 weeks |
| Cardiology | 875 | 87% | 2 | 7 weeks |
| Gastroenterology | 850 | 89% | 0 | 7 weeks |
| Elderly medicine | 211 | 90% | 0 | 7 weeks |
| General medicine | 65 | 94% | 0 | 4 weeks |
| Rheumatology | 497 | 95% | 0 | 6 weeks |
Diagnostic test waiting times at Countess of Chester Hospital
| Test | People waiting | Waiting beyond 6 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Audiology | 485 | 39% |
| DEXA scan | 666 | 32% |
| Echocardiography | 845 | 27% |
| Colonoscopy | 294 | 26% |
| Gastroscopy | 588 | 25% |
| Flexible sigmoidoscopy | 92 | 16% |
| Ultrasound | 3,452 | 11% |
| MRI | 1,218 | 8% |
| CT | 673 | 6% |
| Sleep studies | 164 | 6% |
| Cystoscopy | 116 | 1% |
The six-week point is where the NHS counts a diagnostic wait as a breach; at Countess of Chester Hospital the longest was audiology, with 39% past it and 485 people in the queue.
Skip the 20-week wait
Waiting 20 weeks for oral surgery at Countess of Chester 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 Countess of Chester 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.