Cataract surgery · East Devon · Ophthalmology

Cataract surgery waiting time at Royal Devon University Healthcare 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. 16 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 cataracts

A cataract is when the lens inside your eye becomes cloudy, making vision blurry or misty. It can also make colours look faded and cause glare from lights.

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

See your free wait-or-pay dashboard→

More about Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

How long people have been waiting

5,406

3,477

0 to 18 wks

Over 18 wks

People on the ophthalmology waiting list now, split by whether they have passed the 18-week target, July 2026. Whole specialty.

Before treatment: getting diagnosed

Cataracts are diagnosed by an optometrist at a routine eye test, on the high street or at home, not by a hospital scan, so there is no separate NHS scan queue to wait in before treatment. Once the optometrist confirms the cataract affects your sight enough to meet the local threshold, they refer you to the hospital, and the wait below is that surgery queue.

NHS hospitals near East Devon

Axminster Hospital (current)

0 mi

16 wks

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust · Somerset

17 mi

11 wks

Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust · Dorset

25 mi

4 wks

Bristol NHS Foundation Trust · Bristol, City of

50 mi

10 wks

Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust · Wiltshire

56 mi

8 wks

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust · Southampton

69 mi

12 wks

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · Cheltenham

86 mi

13 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 cataract surgery wait Cataract surgery: NHS vs private What cataract surgery costs privately All NHS waiting times

How we know this

NHS RTT data, July 2026.

Ophthalmology as a whole, not cataract 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?

Your free dashboard compares all four paths for cataract surgery: 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.

See your free wait-or-pay dashboard→