Ophthalmology waiting times in England

How this has changed

Share waiting under 18 weeks: broadly unchanged over 3 months (74.1% in May 2026); broadly unchanged over 6 months (70.6% in February 2026); up 2.4 points over 12 months (69.8% in August 2025).

How much hospitals differ

Across the 104 NHS trusts with data, the share waiting under 18 weeks ranges from 50% (University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust) to 89% (Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust) — a 39-point gap. These published figures do not predict when an individual patient will receive an appointment or treatment.

• 80% or more under 18 weeks21 trusts
• 65% to 79%52 trusts
• 50% to 64%31 trusts
• Under 50%0 trusts

A further 142 NHS-funded independent-sector and other providers reported 87,604 people waiting for this service. Their case mix can differ from an NHS trust's, so they are counted here but not ranked alongside trusts.

NHS trusts by published position

Trusts with at least 200 people on this list, most recent month, sorted by share waiting under 18 weeks. Small differences are not meaningful.

Ophthalmology waits at individual hospitals

92 NHS organisations have a page for this service, grouped by region. Each page shows that organisation's published figures for ophthalmology alongside the England position.

How 18-week performance changed over 12 months

Of the 91 hospital-and-specialty pages for ophthalmology with enough comparable published history (91 organisations), these are the 12-month changes in the share of each waiting list waiting under 18 weeks, August 2025 to August 2026:

• 44 of 9118-week performance improved by 3 or more percentage points
• 25 of 9118-week performance broadly stable (change under 3 percentage points)
• 22 of 9118-week performance deteriorated by 3 or more percentage points

These are counts of provider-and-specialty pages, not people. A large and a small waiting list each count once, so the counts describe how many published lists moved in each direction, not how waits changed for patients in general. They do not predict any individual wait and say nothing about quality of care. Figures are for whole trusts or providers, not individual hospital sites. Lists are alphabetical, not ranked.

NHS waiting trends across England explains the method and covers every specialty and area.

What this measure includes

• These figures cover consultant-led referral-to-treatment pathways where the patient was still waiting to start treatment at the end of the reporting month.
• People can be at different stages of an incomplete referral-to-treatment pathway. The figures do not show the stage of an individual patient's pathway.
• These published aggregate figures do not show the clinical priority of an individual referral.

Checking your own position

Published figures describe a whole list for one month. To work out how long you have been waiting, use the wait check. The team named on your appointment letter is the only source for your actual place on a list.

Related guides on this site

• Work out how long you've waited

  Explains how the 18-week measure is counted and what a published percentage represents.

• Your rights while you wait

  Reference article on what the 18-week standard is and is not.

• What happens if the NHS misses the 18-week target

  Background on what happens when the 18-week standard is not met.

• NHS patient choice explained

  Background on the legal basis of NHS patient choice.

• How consultant triage works

  Explains how clinical triage affects the spread of waits on one list.

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