Meniscus surgery · Rochdale · Trauma and orthopaedics

Meniscus surgery waiting time at Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust

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weeks

Actual referral-to-treatment wait in July 2026.

NHS RTT data, July 2026

See all your options, not just the wait.

1Free on the NHS

Stay where you are

No change, you keep your current place. 36 wks typical wait here.

2Free on the NHS

Switch NHS hospital

Right to Choose lets you ask to be treated at a different NHS hospital.

3Part paid

Part-private, keep your NHS place

Pay for a scan or a first appointment to move sooner, and keep your NHS place.

4Self funded or insured

Go private

Private treatment, self funded or through insurance. Prices vary by clinic.

See my free dashboard →Information only. We do not recommend a route.

About meniscus tears

The menisci are two C-shaped pads of cartilage inside the knee that act as shock absorbers. A tear can happen suddenly, often from twisting the knee, or develop gradually through wear with age.

Get your free wait-or-pay dashboard for meniscus surgery: the faster hospitals near you and every option, compared.

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More about Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust

How long people have been waiting

7,722

6,283

0 to 18 wks

Over 18 wks

People on the trauma and orthopaedics waiting list now, split by whether they have passed the 18-week target, July 2026. Whole specialty.

Before treatment: the MRI queue

An MRI scan is one of the scans often used before treatment, and it is a separate NHS queue. At Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust the typical MRI wait is 3 wks, with 5% waiting over six weeks (July 2026).

See the full MRI queue at Birch Hill Hospital and faster scan alternatives

NHS hospitals near Rochdale

Birch Hill Hospital (current)

0 mi

36 wks

Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust · Tameside

10 mi

21 wks

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust · Kirklees

13 mi

19 wks

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust · Manchester

13 mi

24 wks

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust · Bolton

14 mi

18 wks

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust · Blackburn with Darwen

15 mi

33 wks

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · Bradford

18 mi

25 wks

Weeks waited by patients treated in July 2026, whole specialty, straight-line from this hospital. Switching does not guarantee a shorter wait.

Every NHS trust ranked by meniscus surgery wait Meniscus surgery: NHS vs private What meniscus surgery costs privately All NHS waiting times

How we know this

NHS RTT data, July 2026.

Trauma and orthopaedics as a whole, not meniscus surgery alone.

Wait or Pay is independent and is not the NHS. We show the routes and let you choose. Nothing here is medical advice.

How long will you really wait, and how could you go sooner?

Your free dashboard compares all four paths for meniscus surgery: wait, switch to a faster NHS hospital, part-private, or fully private. It names the faster hospitals near you, shows what going private would cost, and gives you letters ready to send. You can print it or save it as a PDF. Free, and nothing is locked or paid.

See your free wait-or-pay dashboard→