Surgery Waits

Cataract surgery waiting time at Sydney Hospital / Sydney Eye Hospital

Half of patients at Sydney Hospital / Sydney Eye Hospital waited 353 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 Sydney 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
353 days2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
Surgeries completed
4574 surgeries2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
Waited more than 365 days
41.1%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 126 when they are ordered from shortest median to longest. Hospitals with the same median share a rank.

The median wait here has risen from 147 days in 2011–12 to 353 days in 2024–25 — up 140% — while the national median rose from 89 days to 106 days. The nearest public hospital with a shorter published wait is Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, about 4 km away, at 44 days. Here, 41.1% 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
Sydney Hospital / Sydney Eye Hospital353 days41.1%4574 surgeries
New South Wales (all public hospitals)268 days22.0%32695 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 250 km.

How the wait has changed

Median wait for cataract extraction (with or without intra-ocular lens insertion) by financial year at Sydney Hospital / Sydney Eye Hospital, compared with New South Wales and Australiadays01002003004002011–122014–152017–182020–212023–242024–25Sydney Hospital / Sydney Eye Hospital 353NSW 268Australia 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 periodSydney Hospital / Sydney Eye Hospital (days)NSW (days)Australia (days)
2011–1214723389
2012–1313923889
2013–1414121879
2014–1516622183
2015–1623724093
2016–1724622485
2017–1826322387
2018–1928624584
2019–2030928698
2020–21350290172
2021–22339278158
2022–23386282133
2023–24348262119
2024–25353268106

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

All surgery at Sydney Hospital / Sydney Eye Hospital · Cataract surgery across Australia · Cataract surgery in New South Wales · All surgery waits in New South Wales