At a glance: 45,140 people were waiting for NHS treatment at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals in June 2026, spread across 15 specialties, and 404 of them had already waited more than a year. The hardest specialty to be seen quickly was gastroenterology — only 46% of patients seen within the 18-week target and a median wait of 20 weeks — while elderly medicine was quickest at 91%.
Treatment waiting times at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals
| Specialty | People waiting | Seen within 18 weeks | Waiting over a year | Median wait |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gastroenterology | 1,869 | 46% | 52 | 20 weeks |
| General surgery | 223 | 48% | 3 | 19 weeks |
| Neurology | 8,644 | 51% | 119 | 17 weeks |
| Oral surgery | 4,724 | 52% | 54 | 17 weeks |
| Trauma & orthopaedics | 4,561 | 53% | 32 | 17 weeks |
| Plastic surgery | 4,229 | 55% | 93 | 16 weeks |
| General medicine | 2,002 | 59% | 0 | 15 weeks |
| Neurosurgery | 3,615 | 61% | 0 | 13 weeks |
| Gynaecology | 1,748 | 61% | 19 | 13 weeks |
| Dermatology | 1,872 | 62% | 1 | 11 weeks |
| Urology | 1,949 | 63% | 11 | 13 weeks |
| ENT | 3,171 | 68% | 14 | 11 weeks |
| Cardiology | 2,898 | 68% | 1 | 11 weeks |
| Ophthalmology | 3,477 | 75% | 0 | 10 weeks |
| Elderly medicine | 158 | 91% | 5 | 7 weeks |
Diagnostic test waiting times at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals
| Test | People waiting | Waiting beyond 6 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Audiology | 1,293 | 79% |
| Cystoscopy | 223 | 43% |
| Ultrasound | 6,394 | 33% |
| Echocardiography | 1,563 | 28% |
| Nerve conduction studies | 341 | 28% |
| CT | 1,117 | 9% |
| Flexible sigmoidoscopy | 93 | 4% |
| Sleep studies | 190 | 2% |
| MRI | 1,531 | 1% |
| Colonoscopy | 160 | 1% |
| Gastroscopy | 127 | 1% |
| DEXA scan | 360 | 0% |
The six-week point is where the NHS counts a diagnostic wait as a breach; at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals the longest was audiology, with 79% past it and 1,293 people in the queue.
Skip the 20-week wait
Waiting 20 weeks for gastroenterology at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals 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 Lancashire Teaching 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 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.