Cataract surgery waiting time at Royal North Shore Hospital
Half of patients at Royal North Shore Hospital waited 354 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 St Leonards area of New South Wales.
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
- 354 days2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
- Surgeries completed
- 1118 surgeries2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
- Waited more than 365 days
- 39.8%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 127 when they are ordered from shortest median to longest. Hospitals with the same median share a rank.
The median wait here has risen from 125 days in 2011–12 to 354 days in 2024–25 — up 183% — while the national median rose from 89 days to 106 days. The nearest public hospital with a shorter published wait is Sydney Hospital / Sydney Eye Hospital, about 6 km away, at 353 days. Here, 39.8% 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
| Where | Median wait | Waited more than 365 days | Surgeries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal North Shore Hospital | 354 days | 39.8% | 1118 surgeries |
| New South Wales (all public hospitals) | 268 days | 22.0% | 32695 surgeries |
| Australia (all public hospitals) | 106 days | 11.5% | 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.
Sydney Hospital / Sydney Eye Hospital, NSW · about 6 km away: 353 days
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, NSW · about 8 km away: 44 days
Concord Repatriation Hospital, NSW · about 9 km away: 36 days
Prince of Wales Hospital, NSW · about 12 km away: 134 days
Auburn Hospital, NSW · about 15 km away: 280 days
The Children's Hospital at Westmead, NSW · about 18 km away: 44 days
Westmead Hospital, NSW · about 19 km away: 351 days
Bankstown Lidcombe Hospital, NSW · about 20 km away: 307 days
Distances are straight-line, measured between hospital locations, and are approximate. The search covered 250 km.
How the wait has changed
- Royal North Shore Hospital
- NSW
- Australia
View these numbers as a table
| Reference period | Royal North Shore Hospital (days) | NSW (days) | Australia (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–12 | 125 | 233 | 89 |
| 2012–13 | 105 | 238 | 89 |
| 2013–14 | 49 | 218 | 79 |
| 2014–15 | 42 | 221 | 83 |
| 2015–16 | 59 | 240 | 93 |
| 2016–17 | 120 | 224 | 85 |
| 2017–18 | 212 | 223 | 87 |
| 2018–19 | 249 | 245 | 84 |
| 2019–20 | 257 | 286 | 98 |
| 2020–21 | 196 | 290 | 172 |
| 2021–22 | 288 | 278 | 158 |
| 2022–23 | 142 | 282 | 133 |
| 2023–24 | 224 | 262 | 119 |
| 2024–25 | 354 | 268 | 106 |
Public hospitals only — what these figures include and leave out.
All surgery at Royal North Shore Hospital · Cataract surgery across Australia · Cataract surgery in New South Wales · All surgery waits in New South Wales