NHS Wait Helper

Hospital service waiting times

Ophthalmology waiting times at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

At the end of August 2026, 3,382 people were on the Ophthalmology at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust waiting list and about 7 in 10 people (67%) had been waiting less than 18 weeks.

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust · NHS trust · Ophthalmology across England

People waiting
3,382
End of August 2026
Under 18 weeks
66.7%
England: 72.2%
Over 52 weeks
31
Median wait
12 wks
Published median for this list

31 people (0.9%, roughly 1 in 111) had been waiting more than 52 weeks.

This hospital's published position is 5.5 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 6.2% of everyone waiting at County Durham and Darlington 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 deteriorated

Published 18-week performance for Ophthalmology at this organisation has deteriorated over the past 12 months: 66.7% of people on the waiting list at the end of August 2026 had been waiting under 18 weeks, compared with 73.9% 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
66.7%
3 months earlier · May 2026
68.2% then · change to latest -1.4 percentage points
6 months earlier · February 2026
69.5% then · change to latest -2.8 percentage points
12 months earlier · August 2025
73.9% then · change to latest -7.1 percentage points
Earliest available · April 2024
65.2% then · change to latest +1.5 percentage points
Month-by-month figures
Share waiting under 18 weeks by month
Month endUnder 18 weeksPeople waiting
August 202666.7%3,382
July 202667.5%3,241
June 202667.3%3,151
May 202668.2%3,085
April 202670%3,044
March 202669.9%2,868
February 202669.5%2,798
January 202671.1%2,781
December 202574.8%2,675
November 202577.4%2,656
October 202577%2,567
September 202577.5%2,533
August 202573.9%2,524
July 202574.2%2,438
June 202570.5%2,522
May 202570%2,554
April 202568.8%2,557
March 202568.4%2,636
February 202568.1%2,634
January 202567.2%2,671
December 202469.4%2,585
November 202467.1%2,695
October 202464.7%2,708
September 202465.4%2,694
August 202464.9%2,884
July 202464.5%2,859
June 202465.3%2,899
May 202464.3%2,922
April 202465.2%2,980
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
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust14.1 mi4,09079%+11.8 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.

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