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Outpatient waiting times

Once we receive your referral from your GP, it goes through a process called ‘triage’ where we look to see the best way forward for you.

The three options at this stage are:

To send you for an appointment with a doctor/ nurse or other specialist for you
To send you for more testing, such as X-ray, MRI scan or other testing
To send advice and guidance to your GP and allow them to lead your care

For an appointment or testing, you will be contacted as soon as possible to offer you an appointment for the soonest time available. You will receive a confirmation letter of your appointment, which will tell you the day, date and time of the appointment. You may be asked to attend hospital for a face-to-face appointment or a virtual clinic, either over the telephone or using video calling technology such as Zoom.

We have a more detailed waiting time guide (in the table below) for the different departments and conditions. We aim to update this table on a monthly basis to make sure you have information that is as current as we can possibly provide.

Your specific waiting time will depend on your personal circumstances, your health, and the department that you need to see.

What to expect if you’re referred to us.

We have developed a short leaflet to give you some guidance on what to expect when you’re referred to us. This link takes you to our patients and visitors web page. What to expect if you're referred to us

Waiting time to first outpatient appointment at October 2025

Specialty	Clinic Type	Current wait time (Weeks)	Days of the week clinics are held	Locations
Colorectal	Routine	31	Monday - Thursday	West Suffolk Hospital, Sudbury Health Centre, Thetford Healthy Living Centre, Newmarket Community Hospital
General Surgery	Routine	9	Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday	West Suffolk Hospital, Sudbury Health Centre,
ENT	Routine	15	Monday - Friday	West Suffolk Hospital, Newmarket Community Hospital, Thetford Healthy Living Centre, Sudbury Health Centre
ENT	Voice	20	Friday	West Suffolk Hospital
Ophthalmology	Retinal	28	Monday, Tuesday, Thursday	West Suffolk Hospital
	General	36	Thursday - AM	West Suffolk Hospital
	Paediatrics	20	Monday, Wednesday, Thursday	West Suffolk Hospital
	Occular Motility	12	Thursday	West Suffolk Hospital
	Oculoplastics	28	Monday, Thursday, Friday	West Suffolk Hospital
	Glaucoma	20	Tuesday, Wednesday	West Suffolk Hospital
	Corneal	20	Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday	West Suffolk Hospital
	Cataract	24	Tuesday, Wednesday	West Suffolk Hospital
Orthopaedics	Shoulder & Elbow	37	Tuesday - Friday	West Suffolk Hospital, Sudbury Health Centre, Newmarket Community Hospital
	Hand & Wrist	33	Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday	Telephone Clinic, Thetford Healthy Living Centre, Newmarket Community Hospital
	Hips	6	Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday	West Suffolk Hospital, Newmarket Community Hospital, Sudbury Health Centre
	Knees	16	Monday - Friday	West Suffolk Hospital, Newmarket Community Hospital, Sudbury Health Centre, Thetford Healthy Living Centre
	Foot & Ankle	6	Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday	West Suffolk Hospital
	Paediatrics	52 plus	Tuesday	West Suffolk Hospital
Plastics	General	24	Monday - Friday	West Suffolk Hospital, Newmarket Community Hospital
Urology	Routine	20	Monday - Friday	West Suffolk Hospital, Newmarket Community Hospital, Thetford Healthy Living Centre
Vascular	Routine	44	Monday - Thursday	West Suffolk Hospital
Cardiology	Routine	16	Monday - Friday All day	West Suffolk Hospital
Dermatology	Routine	32	Monday - Friday All day	West Suffolk Hospital, Thetford Healthy Living Centre, Newmarket Community Hospital, Sudbury Health Centre, Haverhill
Dermatology	Paediatrics Routine	52 plus	Monday, Tuesday	West Suffolk Hospital
Diabetes	Routine	32	Monday - Friday	West Suffolk Hospital, Sudbury Health Centre, Newmarket Community Hospital
Endocrinology	Routine	28	Monday - Friday	West Suffolk Hospital
Gastroenterology	Routine	20	Monday - Saturday	West Suffolk Hospital, Sudbury Health Centre, Newmarket Community Hospital
Hepatology	Routine	20	Monday - Saturday	West Suffolk Hospital, Sudbury Health Centre, Newmarket Community Hospital
Nephrology	Routine	6	Monday - Friday	West Suffolk Hospital
Neurology	Routine	20	Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday	West Suffolk Hospital, Sudbury Health Centre, Thetford Healthy Living Centre, Botesdale
Pain Management	Routine	52 plus
Respiratory	Routine	12	Monday - Friday	West Suffolk Hospital, Newmarket Community Hospital
Rheumatology	Routine	12	Monday - Friday	West Suffolk Hospital, Newmarket Community Hospital, Thetford Health Living Centre, Sudbury Health Centre, Botesdale, Stowmarket,
Gynaecology	General	32	Monday - Thursday	West Suffolk Hospital, Thetford Healthy Living Centre
	Menopause	36	Monday	West Suffolk Hospital
	Peri-menopause	0	-	-
	Vulval	36	Friday	West Suffolk Hospital
	Uro-gynae	6	Tuesday - Friday	West Suffolk Hospital
	Hysteroscopy	40	Tuesday, Wednesday	West Suffolk Hospital
Paediatrics	General	40	Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday	West Suffolk Hospital
	Cardiology	8	Monday, Thursday, Friday	West Suffolk Hospital
	Respiratory	28	Monday	West Suffolk Hospital
	Allergy	52 plus	Tuesday, Thursday, Friday	West Suffolk Hospital

For more information click on the specialty name in the table which will take you to the relevant page on our website.

What to do while you are waiting

For advice and practical support to help you and those you care for stay well while waiting for surgery, visit:

Suffolk and North East Essex Wellbeing Support Services (sneewellbeing.org.uk).

What to do if your symptoms get worse

If your symptoms get worse while you are waiting for your appointment, test or operation, you should contact your GP or NHS 111 for advice.

For more information about the services that we have, please see our Services pages