NHS Wait Helper

Hospital service waiting times

Ophthalmology waiting times at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

At the end of August 2026, 12,421 people were on the Ophthalmology at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust waiting list and about 7 in 10 people (68%) had been waiting less than 18 weeks.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust · NHS trust · Ophthalmology across England

People waiting
12,421
End of August 2026
Under 18 weeks
68.4%
England: 72.2%
Over 52 weeks
17
Median wait
12 wks
Published median for this list

17 people (0.1%, roughly 1 in 1000) had been waiting more than 52 weeks.

This hospital's published position is broadly in line with the England picture 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 7.4% of everyone waiting at Manchester University 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 improved

Published 18-week performance for Ophthalmology at this organisation has improved over the past 12 months: 68.4% of people on the waiting list at the end of August 2026 had been waiting under 18 weeks, compared with 59.2% 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
68.4%
3 months earlier · May 2026
67.2% then · change to latest +1.1 percentage points
6 months earlier · February 2026
61.3% then · change to latest +7.1 percentage points
12 months earlier · August 2025
59.2% then · change to latest +9.2 percentage points
Earliest available · April 2024
54.4% then · change to latest +14 percentage points
Month-by-month figures
Share waiting under 18 weeks by month
Month endUnder 18 weeksPeople waiting
August 202668.4%12,421
July 202668.9%12,064
June 202669.2%11,444
May 202667.2%11,587
April 202665.3%11,181
March 202664.3%10,869
February 202661.3%10,782
January 202659%10,533
December 202559.4%10,476
November 202558.7%10,439
October 202559.5%10,764
September 202560.1%11,200
August 202559.2%11,292
July 202558.7%11,117
June 202559.1%11,119
May 202558%11,319
April 202555.6%11,464
March 202555.4%11,369
February 202554.6%11,518
January 202553.4%11,658
December 202453.4%11,438
November 202455.4%11,657
October 202455.6%11,855
September 202455.5%12,041
August 202456%12,241
July 202455.8%12,265
June 202456.4%12,322
May 202457.4%12,310
April 202454.4%11,939
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
Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust4.3 mi6,19551%-17.5 pp
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust6.7 mi4,66259%-9.7 pp
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust10.4 mi5,03670%+2.1 pp
East Cheshire NHS Trust14.3 mi2,35464%-4.2 pp
North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust16.5 mi2,68685%+16.2 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

Related pages

All hospitals