NHS Wait Helper

Hospital service waiting times

Ophthalmology waiting times at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

At the end of August 2026, 2,439 people were on the Ophthalmology at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust waiting list and about 6 in 10 people (64%) had been waiting less than 18 weeks.

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust · NHS trust · Ophthalmology across England

People waiting
2,439
End of August 2026
Under 18 weeks
63.7%
England: 72.2%
Over 52 weeks
29
Median wait
14 wks
Published median for this list

29 people (1.2%, roughly 1 in 83) had been waiting more than 52 weeks.

This hospital's published position is 8.5 percentage points behind the England figure for this service.

Why this page exists

This page combines facts that neither the organisation page nor the England specialty page shows on its own: the current published figure for this one service at this one organisation; how that figure has moved over the months we hold; the England figure for the same service in the same month; other NHS trusts within 25 miles reporting the same service; the published median wait and 52-week count for this list; the other services this organisation reports. This service accounts for 3.4% of everyone waiting at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

How published 18-week performance has changed

Ophthalmology, NHS England Referral to Treatment figures, April 2024 to August 2026.

18-week performance broadly stable

Published 18-week performance for Ophthalmology at this organisation has been broadly stable over the past 12 months (a change of under 3 percentage points): 63.7% of people on the waiting list at the end of August 2026 had been waiting under 18 weeks, compared with 62.2% at the end of August 2025.

Share of people on the waiting list who had been waiting under 18 weeks, at the end of each month. Scale runs from 0% to 100%.
Latest · August 2026
63.7%
3 months earlier · May 2026
63.8% then · change to latest -0.1 percentage points
6 months earlier · February 2026
57.1% then · change to latest +6.7 percentage points
12 months earlier · August 2025
62.2% then · change to latest +1.5 percentage points
Earliest available · April 2024
65.8% then · change to latest -2.1 percentage points
Month-by-month figures
Share waiting under 18 weeks by month
Month endUnder 18 weeksPeople waiting
August 202663.7%2,439
July 202664.3%2,420
June 202664.9%2,448
May 202663.8%2,521
April 202662.5%2,534
March 202660.8%2,442
February 202657.1%2,382
January 202652.2%2,387
December 202551.3%2,300
November 202552.6%2,374
October 202553.9%2,394
September 202558.1%2,344
August 202562.2%2,258
July 202562.8%2,164
June 202563.1%2,199
May 202561.7%2,071
April 202557.5%2,026
March 202557.8%1,906
February 202559.5%1,836
January 202560.1%1,812
December 202461.1%1,654
November 202461.5%1,630
October 202460.9%1,723
September 202463.1%1,728
August 202464.1%1,701
July 202466.5%1,622
June 202466.9%1,557
May 202467%1,553
April 202465.8%1,426
How we calculate change
  • Each month's figure is the number of people waiting under 18 weeks divided by everyone on the waiting list, from NHS England's published monthly files.
  • Changes compare the latest month with exactly 3, 6 and 12 months earlier, only where both months are published and the list has at least 50 people.
  • The 12-month label is "improved" or "deteriorated" only if the share moved by 3 percentage points or more; smaller moves are called "broadly stable".
  • Where NHS England reissued a month's file, we use the revised file. Months we do not have are left as gaps and never estimated.
  • Earlier months come from our archive of NHS England's published files and are checked against our current figures wherever both exist.

What these figures cannot tell you

  • These are whole-list figures for one specialty at one organisation. They describe the published waiting list, not how long any one person will wait.
  • This specialty covers many conditions and treatments. These figures are not specific to any one operation or condition.
  • Figures are published for the whole organisation, which may run several hospital sites. They do not show the position at any single site.
  • Patients are prioritised by clinical need, so people on the same list can wait very different times.
  • A higher share within 18 weeks is not a measure of the quality of care.

Other NHS trusts offering ophthalmology within 25 miles

Published figures only. These are whole-list figures for each organisation in one month; a different organisation's published position does not mean an individual referral would move faster there.

Alternative trusts for Ophthalmology
TrustDistanceWaitingUnder 18 weeksDifference
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust2.3 mi5,38476%+12 pp
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust2.9 mi3,21582%+18.3 pp
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust3.9 mi12,55062%-2.2 pp
St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust4 mi7056%-8 pp
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust4.8 mi7,36266%+2.3 pp

What these figures cannot tell you

  • Where you are in a queue, or when you will be seen or treated.
  • How urgent your own referral is. These are aggregate waiting-list figures and do not show the clinical priority of an individual patient.
  • Anything about a specific consultant, clinic or site within a trust.
  • What will happen next month: these are end-of-month snapshots of a past period.

Related guides on this site

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