Acute (Teaching) North East Requires improvement

The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

North-east teaching trust spanning the Royal Victoria Infirmary and Freeman Hospital.

Data vintage: June 2026 · Reviewed by PlainNHS ·

RTT 18-week

74.6%

Far below standard

Waiting list

86,942

incomplete pathways across 22 specialties

Waiting 52+ weeks

703

Low 52+ burden

CQC rating

Requires improvement

Published 2024-01-24

The wait picture

The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals ranks 85 of 266 English NHS providers with waiting lists above 1,000 on the 18-week RTT standard (74.6% within standard; 86,942 incomplete pathways). Longest published specialty median here: Trauma and Orthopaedic at 13 weeks.

74.6%
Incomplete pathways within 18 weeks
86,942
Incomplete pathways on the list
13 wks
Longest specialty median (Trauma and Orthopaedic)
703
Patients waiting 52+ weeks

Ranked on NHS England's RTT-June-2026 incomplete-pathway return against every English provider with a list above 1,000 (not only the trusts PlainNHS profiles). Specialty charts use rows with ≥100 incomplete pathways.

Care Quality Commission · The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals

Caring rated Good; Safe rated Requires improvement

On CQC's file, The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals's strongest published key question is Caring (Good); the weakest is Safe (Requires improvement), dated 2024-01-24. Overall is Requires improvement. These are inspection findings, not a forecast of any individual wait. How to read CQC bands. CQC provider page.

  • Safe Requires improvement
  • Effective Requires improvement
  • Caring Good
  • Responsive Requires improvement
  • Well-led Inadequate

Published performance context

How this profile sits in the published data

PlainNHS converts the measures below into percentiles within the named comparison groups, then combines them into a transparent context score. It is not a clinical-quality rating, a referral recommendation, or a prediction of an individual wait. The official source values remain the decision-relevant record.

Published performance context for The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals. Each axis is a percentile in its stated comparison group; the centre score uses the displayed weights. 3-axis radar comparing 1 series across 18-week standard, 52-week burden, Published CQC band. 18-week standard52-week burdenPublished CQC band 58 context / 100 50th percentile
Published performance context for The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals. Each axis is a percentile in its stated comparison group; the centre score uses the displayed weights.

58/100 context score. Weights automatically redistribute when a source value is unavailable.

  • 18-week standard: 68th percentile (50% weight)
    74.6% of incomplete pathways were within 18 weeks. 266 English providers with 1,000+ incomplete pathways. Source: NHS England RTT incomplete-pathway return.
  • 52-week burden: 43rd percentile (30% weight)
    8.1 patients waiting 52+ weeks per 1,000 incomplete pathways. 266 English providers with 1,000+ incomplete pathways. Source: NHS England RTT incomplete-pathway return.
  • Published CQC band: 56th percentile (20% weight)
    CQC overall rating: Requires improvement. 10 profiled English trusts with a matched CQC overall rating. Source: Care Quality Commission published provider rating.

A percentile describes this publication's comparison group, not care quality or likely treatment timing. CQC inspection bands and RTT operational data measure different things and should be read separately as well as together.

NHS England RTT incomplete return

The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals incomplete-pathway return June 2026 · provider×specialty

The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals · 74.6% within 18w · #85/266 · 86,942 incomplete

The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals line from NHS England's consultant-led incomplete-pathway return (RTT-June-2026), compared with nearest within-18-week peers outside North East. How RTT works → · Compare two trusts →

Specialty median waits at The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals

Sorted ascending. Incomplete pathways with ≥100 patients from NHS England's consultant-led RTT return (RTT-June-2026). Showing the four shortest and twelve longest of 21 published specialties.

Elderly Medicine: 5 wksElderly Medicine5 wksRespiratory Medicine: 6 wksRespiratory Medicine6 wksGastroenterology: 7 wksGastroenterology7 wksOphthalmology: 8 wksOphthalmology8 wksPaediatric Services: 9 wksPaediatric Services9 wksOther Services: 9 wksOther Services9 wksGeneral Surgery: 10 wksGeneral Surgery10 wksEar Nose and Throat: 10 wksEar Nose and Throat10 wksUrology: 11 wksUrology11 wksNeurosurgical: 11 wksNeurosurgical11 wksCardiology: 11 wksCardiology11 wksDermatology: 11 wksDermatology11 wks
Median incomplete-pathway wait (weeks) by specialty at The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals

Share within 18 weeks by specialty

Sorted descending. Same specialty set as the median chart; useful when comparing queues inside this trust.

Elderly Medicine: 98.2%Elderly Medicine98.2%Respiratory Medicine: 94%Respiratory Medicine94%Gastroenterology: 90.2%Gastroenterology90.2%Ophthalmology: 81.3%Ophthalmology81.3%Ear Nose and Throat: 78.9%Ear Nose and Throat78.9%Other Services: 78.6%Other Services78.6%Cardiology: 76.7%Cardiology76.7%Paediatric Services: 75.6%Paediatric Services75.6%General Surgery: 73.9%General Surgery73.9%Oral Surgery: 71.9%Oral Surgery71.9%Neurosurgical: 71.4%Neurosurgical71.4%Dermatology: 68.5%Dermatology68.5%
Share of incomplete pathways within 18 weeks by specialty at The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals

Waiting times by specialty

Incomplete pathways from NHS England's consultant-led RTT provider return. Longest published median on this trust: Trauma and Orthopaedic Service (13 weeks). RTT is reported by treatment function (specialty), not by individual operation - a hernia repair sits inside General Surgery, not as its own row.

Specialty Median wait 92nd percentile Within 18 weeks Waiting
Elderly Medicine Service 5 wks 15 wks 98.2% 218
Respiratory Medicine Service 6 wks 17 wks 94% 830
Gastroenterology Service 7 wks 21 wks 90.2% 952
Ophthalmology Service 8 wks 31 wks 81.3% 9,778
Rheumatology Service 8 wks 18 wks 92.6% 742
Gynaecology Service 8 wks 21 wks 87.9% 3,648
General Internal Medicine Service 9 wks 25 wks 84.3% 921
Neurology Service 9 wks 24 wks 85.1% 2,007
Other - Medical Services 9 wks 29 wks 79.4% 9,652
Other - Paediatric Services 9 wks 30 wks 75.6% 8,158
Other - Other Services 9 wks 37 wks 78.6% 2,363
General Surgery Service 10 wks 35 wks 73.9% 945
Ear Nose and Throat Service 10 wks 29 wks 78.9% 8,706
Urology Service 11 wks 38 wks 65.8% 3,230
Neurosurgical Service 11 wks 38 wks 71.4% 1,355
Cardiology Service 11 wks 33 wks 76.7% 2,799
Dermatology Service 11 wks 36 wks 68.5% 8,657
Oral Surgery Service 12 wks 28 wks 71.9% 2,422
Other - Surgical Services 12 wks 39 wks 65.9% 10,196
Trauma and Orthopaedic Service 13 wks 45 wks 62.4% 7,773
Plastic Surgery Service 13 wks 40 wks 62.7% 1,497

Source: NHS England Referral-to-Treatment (RTT) waiting times, RTT-June-2026. Specialties with fewer than 100 incomplete pathways are omitted. View source

Diagnostic test waiting times

NHS England's monthly Diagnostic Waiting Times and Activity (DM01) return for The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals, by test type. This tracks scans and investigations, separate from the specialty treatment waits above.

Test Median wait Within 6 weeks Over 13 weeks Waiting
Echocardiography 6 wks 54% 226 2,870
Sleep Studies 6 wks 54.8% 10 42
Colonoscopy 5 wks 63.8% 39 541
Flexi Sigmoidoscopy 5 wks 62.2% 23 259
DEXA Scan 4 wks 79% 32 696
Gastroscopy 4 wks 65.4% 71 613
MRI 4 wks 76.7% 131 3,950
Urodynamics 4 wks 80.4% 8 51
Audiology Assessments 3 wks 87.8% 16 1,197
Cystoscopy 3 wks 88% 7 251
Electrophysiology 3 wks 84% 3 25
Non Obstetric Ultrasound 3 wks 91.4% 12 4,678
Peripheral Neurophys 3 wks 98.4% 1 190
CT 2 wks 94.6% 37 2,319

Source: NHS England Diagnostic Waiting Times and Activity (DM01), DM01-MAY-2026. Tests with fewer than 20 patients waiting are omitted. View source

Trusts with a similar RTT profile

Other English trusts with a within-18-week share within 2.5 percentage points of The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals's 74.6%, ranked by closeness, outside North East.

Trusts moving similarly this month

Peers whose within-18-week share moved in the same direction by a similar amount between RTT-May-2026 and RTT-June-2026. The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals's change: +1.1 pp.

Longest mapped procedure waits at this trust

Procedure pages joined to this trust's slowest RTT treatment functions on file. Use them to compare national medians and per-trust tables.

What to do next

Use The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals's published RTT return before you chase a clinical answer.

  • The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals reported 74.6% of incomplete pathways within 18 weeks (86,942 waiting across 22 specialties on the June 2026 return). Compare with another trust
  • Longest median wait at this trust on file: Hip Replacement (13 weeks). Open procedure profile
  • Read how the 18-week clock and incomplete-pathway counts are defined in NHS England’s monthly release. RTT guide

Published operational data only, not medical advice. Contact your GP, NHS 111, or the treating trust for clinical decisions.

Source: NHS England Referral to Treatment (RTT) waiting times · RTT-June-2026 CQC overall + five key-question ratings matched from the Care Quality Commission published provider file (cqc_provider_ratings).

Spotted a figure that looks wrong? Report a correction.

PlainNHS trust pages are rendered directly from NHS England RTT provider returns and matched CQC overall ratings, no number is typed in by an editor. Specialty waits and within-18-week shares for The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust come from the live provider×specialty return on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Data current as of RTT-June-2026. Figures here are for context and comparison; clinical pathway decisions belong with your GP, NHS 111, or the treating Trust.