At a glance: 22,743 people were waiting for NHS treatment at Wye Valley in June 2026, spread across 15 specialties, and 605 of them had already waited more than a year. The hardest specialty to be seen quickly was trauma & orthopaedics — only 48% of patients seen within the 18-week target and a median wait of 18 weeks — while rheumatology was quickest at 82%.
Treatment waiting times at Wye Valley
| Specialty | People waiting | Seen within 18 weeks | Waiting over a year | Median wait |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trauma & orthopaedics | 3,637 | 48% | 319 | 18 weeks |
| Oral surgery | 806 | 55% | 7 | 16 weeks |
| Gynaecology | 2,258 | 56% | 27 | 15 weeks |
| Gastroenterology | 1,567 | 58% | 44 | 14 weeks |
| Cardiology | 1,867 | 59% | 23 | 15 weeks |
| ENT | 2,637 | 62% | 26 | 14 weeks |
| General surgery | 817 | 64% | 6 | 12 weeks |
| Urology | 1,561 | 65% | 17 | 12 weeks |
| Plastic surgery | 323 | 65% | 1 | 11 weeks |
| Respiratory medicine | 1,942 | 69% | 107 | 11 weeks |
| Neurology | 637 | 69% | 2 | 11 weeks |
| Ophthalmology | 2,836 | 72% | 22 | 10 weeks |
| Elderly medicine | 170 | 74% | 0 | 7 weeks |
| Dermatology | 1,186 | 80% | 0 | 7 weeks |
| Rheumatology | 499 | 82% | 4 | 7 weeks |
Diagnostic test waiting times at Wye Valley
| Test | People waiting | Waiting beyond 6 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Urodynamics | 62 | 71% |
| Colonoscopy | 348 | 55% |
| Sleep studies | 300 | 52% |
| Flexible sigmoidoscopy | 157 | 50% |
| Nerve conduction studies | 269 | 36% |
| Echocardiography | 1,071 | 33% |
| Gastroscopy | 221 | 29% |
| Cystoscopy | 77 | 27% |
| MRI | 1,834 | 14% |
| Audiology | 235 | 12% |
| Ultrasound | 1,725 | 4% |
| DEXA scan | 102 | 1% |
| CT | 966 | 0% |
The six-week point is where the NHS counts a diagnostic wait as a breach; at Wye Valley the longest was urodynamics, with 71% past it and 62 people in the queue.
Skip the 18-week wait
Waiting 18 weeks for trauma & orthopaedics at Wye Valley 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 Wye Valley? 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.