Sciatica · County Durham · Trauma and orthopaedics

Sciatica waiting time at County Durham and Darlington 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. 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.

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About sciatica

Sciatica is pain caused by irritation or pressure on the sciatic nerve, which runs from the lower back down through the buttock and into each leg.

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

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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.

Every NHS trust ranked by sciatica wait Sciatica: NHS vs private What sciatica costs privately All NHS waiting times

How we know this

NHS RTT data, July 2026.

Trauma and orthopaedics as a whole, not sciatica 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 sciatica: 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.

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