Eardrum drainage waiting time at Royal Darwin Hospital
Half of patients at Royal Darwin Hospital waited 52 days or less for eardrum drainage in 2024–25 (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026). The source publishes this surgery as "Myringotomy". This public hospital is in the Tiwi area of Northern Territory.
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
- 52 days2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
- Surgeries completed
- 41 surgeries2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
- Waited more than 365 days
- not published2024–25 · released 28 May 2026 — Reported data did not meet the criteria to calculate this indicator.
Half the people who had this surgery here waited less than the median, and half waited longer. Of the 80 public hospitals that published a median wait for this surgery in 2024–25, this one sits at 19 when they are ordered from shortest median to longest. Hospitals with the same median share a rank.
The median wait here has fallen from 63 days in 2011–12 to 52 days in 2024–25 — down 17% — while the national median rose from 49 days to 80 days. The nearest public hospital with a shorter published wait is Derby Hospital, about 954 km away, at 3 days.
Compare this near you → On the compare page, pick "Myringotomy" 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
| Where | Median wait | Waited more than 365 days | Surgeries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Darwin Hospital | 52 days | not published | 41 surgeries |
| Northern Territory (all public hospitals) | not published | not published | 95 surgeries |
| Western Australia (all public hospitals) | 90 days | 4.7% | 830 surgeries |
| Australia (all public hospitals) | 80 days | 5.6% | 5479 surgeries |
Where the wait is shorter nearby
Bars show the median wait in days. The vertical line at 80 days marks the national median.
Palmerston Regional Hospital, NT · about 19 km away: 110 days
Kununurra Hospital, WA · about 445 km away: 92 days
Derby Hospital, WA · about 954 km away: 3 days
Distances are straight-line, measured between hospital locations, and are approximate. The search covered 1000 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
- Royal Darwin Hospital
- NT
- Australia
View these numbers as a table
| Reference period | Royal Darwin Hospital (days) | NT (days) | Australia (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–12 | 63 | 43 | 49 |
| 2012–13 | 94 | 73 | 49 |
| 2013–14 | 100 | 61 | 55 |
| 2014–15 | 126 | 113 | 56 |
| 2015–16 | 149 | 117 | 57 |
| 2016–17 | 32 | 34 | 56 |
| 2017–18 | not published | 26 | 66 |
| 2018–19 | not published | 64 | 62 |
| 2019–20 | 28 | 32 | 65 |
| 2020–21 | 70 | 56 | 76 |
| 2021–22 | 47 | not published | 72 |
| 2022–23 | 46 | not published | 82 |
| 2023–24 | 55 | 99 | 88 |
| 2024–25 | 52 | not published | 80 |
Public hospitals only — what these figures include and leave out.
All surgery at Royal Darwin Hospital · Eardrum drainage across Australia · Eardrum drainage in Northern Territory · All surgery waits in Northern Territory