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NHS waiting times
Data through August 2026. NHS source.
Across NHS hospitals in England, the median wait so far for Ophthalmology Service — the specialty most cataract surgery cases are routed to — is 8 weeks, counted from referral, and 7 in 10 patients on the Ophthalmology Service list have waited less than 18 weeks, the maximum wait set out in the Handbook to the NHS Constitution for non-urgent consultant-led treatment (the 18-week standard is at least 92%). Important context: after cataract surgery you should be able to go home on the same day, but NHS England's referral-to-treatment (RTT) waits are published by specialty, not by operation: the wait shown covers the whole Ophthalmology list and is the time people on it have waited so far, not the wait for cataract surgery on its own.
On the Ophthalmology list, the middle of the providers' median waits so far is 8 weeks as of August 2026, across 343 NHS trusts and independent providers reporting to the NHS, and 9 in 10 current patients are within 31 weeks. But the wait varies significantly between trusts — see the full ranking to find the shortest wait near you.
The median shows time waited so far by the current list — a new routine referral will often wait longer. Why these differ →
Up to 10 acute and specialist NHS trusts with 50 or more people on the Ophthalmology Service waiting list, ranked by shortest median wait. Community and mental-health trusts, smaller lists and independent providers are on the full ranking: See all trusts on the Ophthalmology Service national page →
Hospitals ranked by shortest wait within travelling distance of each city.
The ranking above is national. To rank hospitals by distance from your postcode, search with your postcode below.