Surgery Waits

Cataract surgery waiting time at Mount Gambier and Districts Health Service

Half of patients at Mount Gambier and Districts Health Service waited 173 days or less for cataract surgery in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). The source publishes this surgery as "Cataract extraction (with or without intra-ocular lens insertion)". This public hospital is in the Mount Gambier area of South Australia.

Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released 28 May 2026.

These figures describe surgery that already happened, not your own wait.

Median wait
173 days2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
Surgeries completed
810 surgeries2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
Waited more than 365 days
2.5%2024–25 · released 28 May 2026

Half the people who had this surgery here waited less than the median, and half waited longer. Of the 132 public hospitals that published a median wait for this surgery in 2024–25, this one sits at 80 when they are ordered from shortest median to longest. Hospitals with the same median share a rank.

The median wait here has risen from 70 days in 2011–12 to 173 days in 2024–25 — up 147% — while the national median rose from 89 days to 106 days. The nearest public hospital with a shorter published wait is South West Healthcare [Warrnambool], about 161 km away, at 97 days. Here, 2.5% of people waited more than 365 days for this surgery; nationally it was 11.5%.

Compare this near you → On the compare page, pick "Cataract extraction (with or without intra-ocular lens insertion)" and type your suburb to see the public hospitals within reach, ordered by their published wait. Nothing you type there is kept.

How this compares

Median wait, long waits and volume for Cataract extraction (with or without intra-ocular lens insertion), 2024–25.
Where Median wait Waited more than 365 days Surgeries
Mount Gambier and Districts Health Service173 days2.5%810 surgeries
South Australia (all public hospitals)84 days9.0%9054 surgeries
Victoria (all public hospitals)68 days4.7%21008 surgeries
Australia (all public hospitals)106 days11.5%87841 surgeries

Where the wait is shorter nearby

Bars show the median wait in days. The vertical line at 106 days marks the national median.

Distances are straight-line, measured between hospital locations, and are approximate. The search covered 500 km — the radius was widened because fewer than four hospitals published a figure within 250 km.

Some of these hospitals are in another state — a public hospital referral can cross the border, so ask your GP what that would mean for you. See also where crossing a border cuts the wait most.

How the wait has changed

Median wait for cataract extraction (with or without intra-ocular lens insertion) by financial year at Mount Gambier and Districts Health Service, compared with South Australia and Australiadays0631251882502011–122014–152017–182020–212023–242024–25Mount Gambier and Districts Health Service 173SA 84Australia 106
View these numbers as a table
Median wait in days for Cataract extraction (with or without intra-ocular lens insertion), by financial year. Every figure was released on 2026-05-28.
Reference periodMount Gambier and Districts Health Service (days)SA (days)Australia (days)
2011–12707889
2012–131618289
2013–141887879
2014–152469983
2015–1623111993
2016–17189385
2017–18179787
2018–191410684
2019–202310798
2020–2119145172
2021–2215120158
2022–231875133
2023–245376119
2024–2517384106

Public hospitals only — what these figures include and leave out.

All surgery at Mount Gambier and Districts Health Service · Cataract surgery across Australia · Cataract surgery in South Australia · All surgery waits in South Australia