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Meniscus surgery  ·  County Durham ·  Trauma and orthopaedics

Meniscus surgery waiting time at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

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37
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. 37 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.

Read more about meniscus surgery and what treatment involves →

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More about County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

How long people have been waiting

8,162
2,682
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 County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust the typical MRI wait is 3 wks, with 11% waiting over six weeks (July 2026).

See the full MRI queue at University Hospital of North Durham and faster scan alternatives

NHS hospitals near County Durham

University Hospital of North Durham (current)
0 mi
37 wks
Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust · Gateshead
10 mi
28 wks
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust · Sunderland
11 mi
28 wks
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · Newcastle upon Tyne
15 mi
22 wks
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust · Hartlepool
16 mi
16 wks
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust · North Tyneside
17 mi
19 wks
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · Middlesbrough
22 mi
19 wks
Weeks waited by patients treated in July 2026, whole specialty, straight-line from this hospital. Switching does not guarantee a shorter wait.

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?

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