At a glance: 37,331 people were waiting for NHS treatment at Great Western Hospitals in June 2026, spread across 15 specialties, and 1,026 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 rheumatology was quickest at 92%.
Treatment waiting times at Great Western Hospitals
| Specialty | People waiting | Seen within 18 weeks | Waiting over a year | Median wait |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral surgery | 3,068 | 44% | 95 | 20 weeks |
| Trauma & orthopaedics | 5,682 | 46% | 235 | 19 weeks |
| Urology | 3,008 | 51% | 128 | 17 weeks |
| Gynaecology | 3,519 | 53% | 50 | 16 weeks |
| Gastroenterology | 3,667 | 56% | 85 | 15 weeks |
| ENT | 3,508 | 58% | 131 | 15 weeks |
| Respiratory medicine | 861 | 59% | 4 | 13 weeks |
| General surgery | 5,166 | 60% | 211 | 13 weeks |
| Ophthalmology | 2,813 | 60% | 42 | 14 weeks |
| Dermatology | 3,649 | 63% | 39 | 12 weeks |
| Cardiology | 1,088 | 68% | 1 | 11 weeks |
| Plastic surgery | 108 | 77% | 4 | 5 weeks |
| Elderly medicine | 170 | 81% | 0 | 9 weeks |
| Neurology | 670 | 87% | 0 | 6 weeks |
| Rheumatology | 354 | 92% | 1 | 6 weeks |
Diagnostic test waiting times at Great Western Hospitals
| Test | People waiting | Waiting beyond 6 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Cystoscopy | 109 | 47% |
| Sleep studies | 344 | 38% |
| Flexible sigmoidoscopy | 118 | 21% |
| Audiology | 727 | 20% |
| Colonoscopy | 499 | 14% |
| Gastroscopy | 422 | 9% |
| Echocardiography | 665 | 8% |
| MRI | 1,383 | 0% |
| CT | 864 | 0% |
| Ultrasound | 2,474 | 0% |
| DEXA scan | 231 | 0% |
| Nerve conduction studies | 137 | 0% |
The six-week point is where the NHS counts a diagnostic wait as a breach; at Great Western Hospitals the longest was cystoscopy, with 47% past it and 109 people in the queue.
Skip the 20-week wait
Waiting 20 weeks for oral surgery at Great Western 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 Great Western 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.