A review of 950 patients who had waited for more than one year for orthopaedic treatment at a large District General Hospital was undertaken. Searches of medical records eliminated 193 patients who had already had operations, but, whose names had not been removed from the list. Of the remaining 757 patients, 48% indicated their wish to remain on the list. This proportion was lowest for: the under 45 year old age group (43%), the over 75s (36%), patients awaiting less complex procedures (35%) and those with waiting times longer than five years (31%).