NHS Wait Helper

Hospital service waiting times

Ophthalmology waiting times at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust

At the end of August 2026, 4,827 people were on the Ophthalmology at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust waiting list and about 7 in 10 people (72%) had been waiting less than 18 weeks.

University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust · NHS trust · Ophthalmology across England

People waiting
4,827
End of August 2026
Under 18 weeks
72.1%
England: 72.2%
Over 52 weeks
0
Median wait
13 wks
Published median for this list

No one on this list had been waiting more than 52 weeks in August 2026.

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 7.2% of everyone waiting at University Hospitals Dorset 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): 72.1% of people on the waiting list at the end of August 2026 had been waiting under 18 weeks, compared with 72% 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
72.1%
3 months earlier · May 2026
73% then · change to latest -0.9 percentage points
6 months earlier · February 2026
66.5% then · change to latest +5.6 percentage points
12 months earlier · August 2025
72% then · change to latest +0.1 percentage points
Earliest available · April 2024
76.1% then · change to latest -4 percentage points
Month-by-month figures
Share waiting under 18 weeks by month
Month endUnder 18 weeksPeople waiting
August 202672.1%4,827
July 202673%4,795
June 202673.2%5,135
May 202673%5,420
April 202670.8%5,290
March 202668.9%5,211
February 202666.5%5,229
January 202666.6%5,259
December 202566.6%5,267
November 202566.7%5,463
October 202567.2%5,243
September 202569.2%5,206
August 202572%5,116
July 202574%4,999
June 202576.5%4,763
May 202577.5%4,663
April 202578.9%4,381
March 202579.3%4,280
February 202578.1%4,178
January 202579.7%3,914
December 202480.1%3,782
November 202480.7%3,862
October 202480.8%3,806
September 202480.8%3,703
August 202480.3%3,818
July 202481.1%3,862
June 202479.1%3,838
May 202477.6%3,859
April 202476.1%3,942
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
Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust20.7 mi2,60572%-0.3 pp
Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust23.6 mi1,99780%+8.1 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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