At a glance: 20,514 people were waiting for NHS treatment at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, in June 2026, spread across 16 specialties, and 331 of them had already waited more than a year. The hardest specialty to be seen quickly was general surgery — only 50% of patients seen within the 18-week target and a median wait of 17 weeks — while general medicine was quickest at 95%.
Treatment waiting times at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn,
| Specialty | People waiting | Seen within 18 weeks | Waiting over a year | Median wait |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General surgery | 1,630 | 50% | 58 | 17 weeks |
| Trauma & orthopaedics | 2,195 | 51% | 88 | 17 weeks |
| ENT | 3,085 | 51% | 68 | 17 weeks |
| Respiratory medicine | 908 | 56% | 0 | 15 weeks |
| Plastic surgery | 65 | 62% | 1 | 8 weeks |
| Neurology | 1,166 | 62% | 0 | 14 weeks |
| Gastroenterology | 1,314 | 65% | 0 | 13 weeks |
| Ophthalmology | 2,042 | 66% | 28 | 11 weeks |
| Urology | 1,449 | 67% | 40 | 12 weeks |
| Dermatology | 2,468 | 68% | 5 | 10 weeks |
| Cardiology | 1,427 | 69% | 2 | 11 weeks |
| Gynaecology | 1,504 | 72% | 27 | 9 weeks |
| Oral surgery | 428 | 78% | 13 | 7 weeks |
| Rheumatology | 594 | 79% | 1 | 9 weeks |
| Elderly medicine | 66 | 94% | 0 | 4 weeks |
| General medicine | 173 | 95% | 0 | 1 weeks |
Diagnostic test waiting times at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn,
| Test | People waiting | Waiting beyond 6 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Audiology | 1,915 | 93% |
| Echocardiography | 1,233 | 59% |
| Ultrasound | 2,345 | 18% |
| MRI | 1,482 | 16% |
| Colonoscopy | 177 | 15% |
| Cystoscopy | 50 | 12% |
| Gastroscopy | 139 | 6% |
| CT | 963 | 5% |
| DEXA scan | 142 | 1% |
| Nerve conduction studies | 248 | 0% |
The six-week point is where the NHS counts a diagnostic wait as a breach; at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, the longest was audiology, with 93% past it and 1,915 people in the queue.
Skip the 17-week wait
Waiting 17 weeks for general surgery at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, is a long time to be in pain or limbo. A self-pay hernia repair costs around £3,668, 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 The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn,? 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 general 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.