NHS waiting times · Rheumatology
Polymyalgia rheumatica NHS waiting times by trust
Polymyalgia rheumatica is done by rheumatology, where the typical NHS wait is about 11 weeks: half of patients wait less, half longer. It varies a lot by hospital.
This is the wait for the whole rheumatology specialty, not polymyalgia rheumatica on its own: the NHS doesn’t publish waits for single procedures.
Updated July 2026 · (Referral to Treatment: the NHS wait-time framework)
Get your free wait-or-pay dashboard for polymyalgia rheumatica: the faster hospitals near you and every option, compared.
See your free wait-or-pay dashboard→| Trust | Location | Typical wait |
|---|---|---|
| Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust | Wakefield | 1 week |
| Whittington Health NHS Trust | Islington | 3 weeks |
| Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Cheshire West and Chester | 3 weeks |
| South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust | Warwick | 3 weeks |
| Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | Hackney | 4 weeks |
| Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Ashfield | 5 weeks |
| Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust | Portsmouth | 5 weeks |
| Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Barnsley | 5 weeks |
| Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Bradford | 5 weeks |
| Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust | Maidstone | 6 weeks |
| Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust | Buckinghamshire | 6 weeks |
| Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust | Reading | 6 weeks |
| South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust | Sunderland | 6 weeks |
| University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust | Coventry | 6 weeks |
| Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | Exeter | 6 weeks |
| Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust | Sandwell | 7 weeks |
| Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust | Manchester | 7 weeks |
| University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 7 weeks |
| Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust | Kingston upon Thames | 7 weeks |
| Bristol NHS Foundation Trust | Bristol, City of | 7 weeks |
| The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Newcastle upon Tyne | 7 weeks |
| King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Lambeth | 7 weeks |
| Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust | Surrey Heath | 7 weeks |
| Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust | West Northamptonshire | 7 weeks |
| Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust | Westminster | 7 weeks |
| The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Hillingdon | 7 weeks |
| Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust | North Yorkshire | 8 weeks |
| Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust | Lambeth | 8 weeks |
| University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust | Worthing | 8 weeks |
| Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Chesterfield | 8 weeks |
| Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust | Reigate and Banstead | 8 weeks |
| Barts Health NHS Trust | Tower Hamlets | 8 weeks |
| West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust | West Suffolk | 8 weeks |
| London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust | Brent | 8 weeks |
| Somerset NHS Foundation Trust | Somerset | 8 weeks |
| Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Swindon | 9 weeks |
| Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust | Worcester | 9 weeks |
| Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust | Cornwall | 9 weeks |
| The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust | Wolverhampton | 9 weeks |
| Wye Valley NHS Trust | Herefordshire, County of | 9 weeks |
| Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust | Bath and North East Somerset | 9 weeks |
| The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust | Rotherham | 9 weeks |
| Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust | Southend-on-Sea | 9 weeks |
| University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | Birmingham | 10 weeks |
| Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust | Guildford | 10 weeks |
| Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Oxford | 10 weeks |
| University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust | Southampton | 10 weeks |
| Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust | Sutton | 10 weeks |
| Isle of Wight NHS Trust | Isle of Wight | 10 weeks |
| George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust | Nuneaton and Bedworth | 10 weeks |
| The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust | Dudley | 11 weeks |
| Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Liverpool | 11 weeks |
| Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Cambridge | 11 weeks |
| Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Luton | 11 weeks |
| University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust | Derby | 11 weeks |
| Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust | Lewisham | 12 weeks |
| West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | Watford | 12 weeks |
| York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | York | 12 weeks |
| University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust | Westmorland and Furness | 12 weeks |
| East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust | Hastings | 12 weeks |
| The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Shropshire | 12 weeks |
| Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Runnymede | 13 weeks |
| Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Cheshire East | 13 weeks |
| Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Basingstoke and Deane | 13 weeks |
| Stockport NHS Foundation Trust | Stockport | 14 weeks |
| Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust | Gateshead | 14 weeks |
| Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust | Wiltshire | 14 weeks |
| Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Wigan | 14 weeks |
| East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust | Blackburn with Darwen | 14 weeks |
| United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | Lincoln | 15 weeks |
| Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust | Tameside | 15 weeks |
| North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust | Hartlepool | 15 weeks |
| Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | Kingston upon Hull, City of | 15 weeks |
| St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Wandsworth | 15 weeks |
| Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | North Northamptonshire | 15 weeks |
| Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | Knowsley | 15 weeks |
| Airedale NHS Foundation Trust | Bradford | 16 weeks |
| South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Middlesbrough | 16 weeks |
| Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Wirral | 16 weeks |
| Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust | Harrow | 17 weeks |
| Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | North Tyneside | 17 weeks |
| Bolton NHS Foundation Trust | Bolton | 17 weeks |
| Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Kensington and Chelsea | 17 weeks |
| Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Blackpool | 17 weeks |
| Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust | Kirklees | 18 weeks |
| Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Doncaster | 18 weeks |
| Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Cheltenham | 19 weeks |
| Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Milton Keynes | 19 weeks |
| University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Camden | 19 weeks |
| Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust | Salford | 20 weeks |
| Croydon Health Services NHS Trust | Croydon | 20 weeks |
| James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Great Yarmouth | 20 weeks |
| Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust | Havering | 20 weeks |
| Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust | Nottingham | 21 weeks |
| Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust | Leeds | 22 weeks |
| Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | South Norfolk | 22 weeks |
| The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust | King's Lynn and West Norfolk | 22 weeks |
| County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust | Darlington | 23 weeks |
| Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust | Camden | 24 weeks |
| Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust | Walsall | 26 weeks |
| North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust | Peterborough | 26 weeks |
| East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust | Colchester | 29 weeks |
| The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust | Harlow | 31 weeks |
| North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust | Cumberland | 31 weeks |
| North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust | Warrington | 32 weeks |
| East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust | Stevenage | 33 weeks |
| University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust | Leicester | 34 weeks |
| Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust | North East Lincolnshire | 38 weeks |
| East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust | Canterbury | 40 weeks |
| Medway NHS Foundation Trust | Medway | 55 weeks |
110 NHS trusts, ranked by wait, from the admitted RTT pathway for July 2026. We show only acute trusts with a confident sample size, so a small-volume or community service can't distort the ranking. 3 trusts were set aside for too few patients to be reliable. 2 non-acute providers were excluded.
Larger trusts run several hospitals, sometimes miles apart. The NHS publishes one wait for the whole trust, not a separate figure per hospital, so the location shown is the trust's main registered site: your care could be at another of its hospitals.
About polymyalgia rheumatica
Polymyalgia rheumatica, often called PMR, causes pain and stiffness in the shoulders, neck and hips, usually worst in the morning. It mostly affects people over 50, is more common in women, and often comes on over a few days or weeks.
Read more about polymyalgia rheumatica and what treatment involves →