Cataract surgery · Hartlepool · Ophthalmology

Cataract surgery waiting time at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust

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North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust does not report a ophthalmology treatment wait to NHS England, so there is no figure to show for this hospital.

NHS RTT data, July 2026

See all your options, not just the wait.

1Free on the NHS

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No change, you keep your current place.

2Free on the NHS

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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

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Private treatment, self funded or through insurance. Prices vary by clinic.

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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.

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More about North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust

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 Hartlepool

University Hospital of Hartlepool (current)

0 mi

n/a

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · Middlesbrough

10 mi

10 wks

South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust · Sunderland

16 mi

14 wks

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust · Darlington

18 mi

30 wks

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · Newcastle upon Tyne

25 mi

9 wks

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust · North Yorkshire

50 mi

20 wks

York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · York

51 mi

24 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→