At a glance: 23,182 people were waiting for NHS treatment at North Cheshire and Mersey in June 2026, spread across 12 specialties, and 247 of them had already waited more than a year. The hardest specialty to be seen quickly was trauma & orthopaedics — only 51% of patients seen within the 18-week target and a median wait of 17 weeks — while general medicine was quickest at 100%.
Treatment waiting times at North Cheshire and Mersey
| Specialty | People waiting | Seen within 18 weeks | Waiting over a year | Median wait |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trauma & orthopaedics | 3,453 | 51% | 132 | 17 weeks |
| Rheumatology | 1,220 | 52% | 9 | 17 weeks |
| ENT | 3,440 | 57% | 37 | 15 weeks |
| Elderly medicine | 385 | 62% | 1 | 14 weeks |
| Gynaecology | 3,582 | 65% | 31 | 12 weeks |
| Urology | 2,124 | 71% | 23 | 11 weeks |
| Respiratory medicine | 1,092 | 72% | 0 | 10 weeks |
| Cardiology | 1,785 | 74% | 5 | 10 weeks |
| Gastroenterology | 2,881 | 78% | 7 | 9 weeks |
| General surgery | 808 | 80% | 2 | 7 weeks |
| Ophthalmology | 2,349 | 88% | 0 | 8 weeks |
| General medicine | 63 | 100% | 0 | 6 weeks |
Diagnostic test waiting times at North Cheshire and Mersey
| Test | People waiting | Waiting beyond 6 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Echocardiography | 591 | 26% |
| Flexible sigmoidoscopy | 109 | 20% |
| Colonoscopy | 412 | 15% |
| Cystoscopy | 134 | 10% |
| Gastroscopy | 503 | 10% |
| Audiology | 455 | 3% |
| Sleep studies | 177 | 2% |
| CT | 1,156 | 1% |
| MRI | 1,359 | 0% |
| Ultrasound | 2,297 | 0% |
| DEXA scan | 339 | 0% |
The six-week point is where the NHS counts a diagnostic wait as a breach; at North Cheshire and Mersey the longest was echocardiography, with 26% past it and 591 people in the queue.
Skip the 17-week wait
Waiting 17 weeks for trauma & orthopaedics at North Cheshire and Mersey is a long time to be in pain or limbo. A self-pay hip replacement costs around £16,225, 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 North Cheshire and Mersey? 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 trauma & orthopaedics 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.