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NHS waiting times · Ophthalmology

Cataract surgery NHS waiting times by trust

Cataract surgery is done by ophthalmology, where the typical NHS wait is about 13 weeks: half of patients wait less, half longer. It varies a lot by hospital.

This is the wait for the whole ophthalmology specialty, not cataract surgery on its own: the NHS doesn’t publish waits for single procedures.

Updated July 2026 · (Referral to Treatment: the NHS wait-time framework)

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TrustLocationTypical wait
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation TrustBirmingham3 weeks
Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation TrustDorset4 weeks
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS TrustReigate and Banstead5 weeks
The Dudley Group NHS Foundation TrustDudley6 weeks
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS TrustKnowsley6 weeks
Airedale NHS Foundation TrustBradford7 weeks
Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustCheshire East7 weeks
London North West University Healthcare NHS TrustBrent7 weeks
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation TrustReading8 weeks
Salisbury NHS Foundation TrustWiltshire8 weeks
The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS TrustHarlow9 weeks
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustLiverpool9 weeks
Barts Health NHS TrustTower Hamlets9 weeks
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustNewcastle upon Tyne9 weeks
Bristol NHS Foundation TrustBristol, City of10 weeks
North West Anglia NHS Foundation TrustPeterborough10 weeks
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation TrustWestmorland and Furness10 weeks
Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation TrustIslington10 weeks
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS TrustSandwell10 weeks
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS TrustBuckinghamshire10 weeks
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustMiddlesbrough10 weeks
Imperial College Healthcare NHS TrustWestminster10 weeks
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation TrustLambeth10 weeks
Somerset NHS Foundation TrustSomerset11 weeks
Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation TrustKirklees11 weeks
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation TrustCheshire West and Chester11 weeks
James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustGreat Yarmouth11 weeks
Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS TrustSutton11 weeks
Northampton General Hospital NHS TrustWest Northamptonshire11 weeks
Frimley Health NHS Foundation TrustSurrey Heath12 weeks
East Sussex Healthcare NHS TrustHastings12 weeks
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation TrustSouthampton12 weeks
The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustHillingdon12 weeks
Stockport NHS Foundation TrustStockport12 weeks
Manchester University NHS Foundation TrustManchester12 weeks
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustWigan13 weeks
Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation TrustBarnsley13 weeks
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS TrustLeeds13 weeks
Bolton NHS Foundation TrustBolton13 weeks
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustCheltenham13 weeks
George Eliot Hospital NHS TrustNuneaton and Bedworth13 weeks
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation TrustChesterfield14 weeks
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation TrustCanterbury14 weeks
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation TrustSunderland14 weeks
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation TrustNorth East Lincolnshire14 weeks
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS TrustMaidstone14 weeks
North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation TrustWarrington15 weeks
East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS TrustStevenage15 weeks
Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustBasingstoke and Deane15 weeks
Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustAshfield16 weeks
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustBradford16 weeks
United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS TrustLincoln16 weeks
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation TrustExeter16 weeks
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustBlackpool16 weeks
Royal Free London NHS Foundation TrustCamden17 weeks
South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation TrustWarwick17 weeks
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation TrustDerby17 weeks
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS TrustCornwall17 weeks
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS TrustKingston upon Hull, City of17 weeks
The Rotherham NHS Foundation TrustRotherham18 weeks
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation TrustColchester18 weeks
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustCambridge18 weeks
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, NHS Foundation TrustKing's Lynn and West Norfolk18 weeks
Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustRunnymede18 weeks
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS TrustShropshire18 weeks
University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation TrustBournemouth, Christchurch and Poole18 weeks
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustOxford18 weeks
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS TrustWorcester19 weeks
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation TrustMilton Keynes19 weeks
Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation TrustNorth Northamptonshire19 weeks
Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS TrustWakefield19 weeks
Royal Surrey NHS Foundation TrustGuildford19 weeks
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustSouth Norfolk19 weeks
Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS TrustPortsmouth20 weeks
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation TrustNorth Yorkshire20 weeks
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS TrustNottingham20 weeks
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS TrustStoke-on-Trent20 weeks
Wye Valley NHS TrustHerefordshire, County of20 weeks
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation TrustWorthing20 weeks
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation TrustSalford20 weeks
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustPreston20 weeks
East Cheshire NHS TrustCheshire East21 weeks
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation TrustSouthend-on-Sea21 weeks
Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation TrustMid Sussex22 weeks
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation TrustLambeth23 weeks
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS TrustLeicester23 weeks
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS TrustWolverhampton24 weeks
York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustYork24 weeks
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS TrustHavering24 weeks
Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustLuton24 weeks
Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation TrustWirral25 weeks
Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation TrustBath and North East Somerset26 weeks
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS TrustBlackburn with Darwen27 weeks
North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation TrustCumberland27 weeks
Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustDoncaster28 weeks
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS TrustCoventry29 weeks
Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation TrustKingston upon Thames29 weeks
Isle of Wight NHS TrustIsle of Wight29 weeks
County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation TrustDarlington30 weeks
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation TrustSwindon32 weeks
West Suffolk NHS Foundation TrustWest Suffolk33 weeks
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation TrustKensington and Chelsea38 weeks
West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS TrustWatford43 weeks

103 NHS trusts, ranked by wait, from the admitted RTT pathway for July 2026. We show only acute trusts with a confident sample size, so a small-volume or community service can't distort the ranking. 1 trust was set aside for too few patients to be reliable.

Larger trusts run several hospitals, sometimes miles apart. The NHS publishes one wait for the whole trust, not a separate figure per hospital, so the location shown is the trust's main registered site: your care could be at another of its hospitals.

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.

Read more about cataract surgery and what treatment involves →