At a glance: 51,168 people were waiting for NHS treatment at South Tyneside and Sunderland in June 2026, spread across 13 specialties, and none had yet waited more than a year. The hardest specialty to be seen quickly was trauma & orthopaedics — only 58% of patients seen within the 18-week target and a median wait of 14 weeks — while gastroenterology was quickest at 96%.
Treatment waiting times at South Tyneside and Sunderland
| Specialty | People waiting | Seen within 18 weeks | Waiting over a year | Median wait |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trauma & orthopaedics | 8,464 | 58% | 0 | 14 weeks |
| Urology | 6,313 | 67% | 0 | 11 weeks |
| Oral surgery | 5,083 | 68% | 0 | 11 weeks |
| Respiratory medicine | 2,735 | 77% | 0 | 9 weeks |
| Rheumatology | 1,058 | 79% | 0 | 9 weeks |
| Ophthalmology | 8,855 | 81% | 0 | 8 weeks |
| Elderly medicine | 943 | 81% | 0 | 6 weeks |
| General surgery | 4,478 | 83% | 0 | 6 weeks |
| ENT | 5,144 | 83% | 0 | 7 weeks |
| Gynaecology | 3,195 | 85% | 0 | 7 weeks |
| Cardiology | 2,313 | 85% | 0 | 6 weeks |
| Neurology | 1,464 | 86% | 0 | 8 weeks |
| Gastroenterology | 1,123 | 96% | 0 | 3 weeks |
Diagnostic test waiting times at South Tyneside and Sunderland
| Test | People waiting | Waiting beyond 6 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep studies | 966 | 48% |
| Cystoscopy | 743 | 39% |
| Urodynamics | 135 | 34% |
| CT | 1,197 | 30% |
| Ultrasound | 5,829 | 23% |
| MRI | 1,511 | 22% |
| DEXA scan | 611 | 20% |
| Flexible sigmoidoscopy | 81 | 9% |
| Colonoscopy | 280 | 8% |
| Audiology | 1,491 | 7% |
| Gastroscopy | 239 | 6% |
| Echocardiography | 1,147 | 2% |
| Nerve conduction studies | 238 | 0% |
The six-week point is where the NHS counts a diagnostic wait as a breach; at South Tyneside and Sunderland the longest was sleep studies, with 48% past it and 966 people in the queue.
Skip the 14-week wait
Waiting 14 weeks for trauma & orthopaedics at South Tyneside and Sunderland 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 South Tyneside and Sunderland? 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.