At a glance: 15,040 people were waiting for NHS treatment at East Cheshire in June 2026, spread across 10 specialties, and 407 of them had already waited more than a year. The hardest specialty to be seen quickly was gastroenterology — only 50% of patients seen within the 18-week target and a median wait of 17 weeks — while elderly medicine was quickest at 70%.
Treatment waiting times at East Cheshire
| Specialty | People waiting | Seen within 18 weeks | Waiting over a year | Median wait |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gastroenterology | 1,906 | 50% | 96 | 17 weeks |
| Respiratory medicine | 1,137 | 51% | 79 | 17 weeks |
| Cardiology | 1,428 | 53% | 22 | 16 weeks |
| Gynaecology | 2,254 | 57% | 89 | 15 weeks |
| General surgery | 1,407 | 58% | 25 | 14 weeks |
| Trauma & orthopaedics | 1,543 | 58% | 28 | 14 weeks |
| Urology | 1,213 | 64% | 25 | 13 weeks |
| ENT | 1,594 | 64% | 22 | 13 weeks |
| Ophthalmology | 2,478 | 66% | 20 | 12 weeks |
| Elderly medicine | 80 | 70% | 1 | 9 weeks |
Diagnostic test waiting times at East Cheshire
| Test | People waiting | Waiting beyond 6 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Audiology | 455 | 33% |
| Flexible sigmoidoscopy | 97 | 33% |
| Sleep studies | 183 | 26% |
| MRI | 1,374 | 24% |
| Colonoscopy | 249 | 19% |
| Echocardiography | 722 | 18% |
| Gastroscopy | 250 | 17% |
| Cystoscopy | 109 | 12% |
| CT | 575 | 7% |
| Ultrasound | 2,084 | 1% |
The six-week point is where the NHS counts a diagnostic wait as a breach; at East Cheshire the longest was audiology, with 33% past it and 455 people in the queue.
Skip the 17-week wait
Waiting 17 weeks for gastroenterology at East Cheshire is a long time to be in pain or limbo. A self-pay colonoscopy costs around £2,795, and private medical insurance covers treatment like it in full — usually within weeks, not 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 East Cheshire? 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 gastroenterology 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.