---
title: "Public hospital surgery waiting times in Northern Territory"
description: "Public hospital surgery waiting times in Northern Territory for 2024–25: every surgery type's state median, every hospital, urgency-category performance and cross-border comparisons."
url: "https://surgerywaits.au/state/nt/"
---

# Public hospital surgery waiting times in Northern Territory

In 2024–25, Northern Territory's median waits ranged from **1 day** for curettage and evacuation of uterus to **377 days** for eardrum repair, across 6 public hospitals.

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

Northern Territory public hospitals report their planned-surgery waiting times to the national collection once a year. This page brings the state's figures together: every surgery type with a published state median, every hospital, and the urgency-category performance — each linking to the detailed comparison.

**[Compare this near you →](https://surgerywaits.au/)** On the compare page, pick a surgery and type your suburb to see the public hospitals within reach, ordered by their published wait. Nothing you type there is kept.

## Waiting times by surgery in Northern Territory

Median waiting time by surgery type in Northern Territory public hospitals, 2024–25, shortest first. Surgeries with the same median share a rank. Every figure was released on 2026-05-28.

| Rank | Surgery | State median | National median | Waited more than 365 days | Hospitals reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Curettage and evacuation of uterus](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/curettage-and-evacuation-of-uterus/nt/) | 1 day | 4 days | 0.0% | 5 |
| 2 | [Dialysis access surgery](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/dialysis-access-surgery/nt/) | 19 days | 15 days | 1.0% | 3 |
| 2 | [Dilatation and curettage](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/dilatation-and-curettage/nt/) | 19 days | 28 days | 0.2% | 5 |
| 4 | [Skin lesion removal](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/skin-lesion-removal/nt/) | 24 days | 26 days | 1.1% | 5 |
| 5 | [Bladder scope (cystoscopy)](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/cystoscopy/nt/) | 39 days | 26 days | 1.9% | 3 |
| 6 | [Gallbladder removal](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/gallbladder-removal/nt/) | 42 days | 48 days | 0.0% | 5 |
| 7 | [Inguinal hernia repair](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/inguinal-hernia-repair/nt/) | 43 days | 73 days | 0.8% | 5 |
| 8 | [Prostate biopsy](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/prostate-biopsy/nt/) | 50 days | 33 days | 0.8% | 3 |
| 9 | [LLETZ procedure](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/lletz-procedure/nt/) | 61 days | 33 days | 1.0% | 5 |
| 10 | [Keyhole joint surgery](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/arthroscopy/nt/) | 81 days | 78 days | 12.5% | 4 |
| 11 | [Tonsillectomy](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/tonsillectomy/nt/) | 116 days | 182 days | 15.3% | 3 |
| 12 | [Cataract surgery](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/cataract-surgery/nt/) | 162 days | 106 days | 20.4% | 5 |
| 13 | [Eardrum repair](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/eardrum-repair/nt/) | 377 days | 264 days | 52.8% | 5 |

## Treated on time, by urgency category

Urgency figures cover all planned surgery at the hospital, not one procedure. They are never combined with the procedure figures. What each category means, with every hospital compared nationally, is on [the urgency categories pages](https://surgerywaits.au/urgency/).

Share of patients treated within the clinically recommended time at Northern Territory public hospitals, by urgency category, 2024–25. Ranked on Category 1 (urgent); hospitals with the same figure share a rank. Every figure was released on 2026-05-28.

| Rank | Hospital | Category 1 (urgent) | Category 2 (semi-urgent) | Category 3 (non-urgent) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Alice Springs Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/alice-springs-hospital/) | 88% | 61% | 81% |
| 2 | [Gove Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/gove-hospital/) | 77% | 46% | 55% |
| 3 | [Palmerston Regional Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/palmerston-regional-hospital/) | 72% | 64% | 77% |
| 4 | [Katherine Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/katherine-hospital/) | 71% | 57% | 95% |
| 5 | [Royal Darwin Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-darwin-hospital/) | 69% | 57% | 58% |

## Compare a surgery at the big hospitals

Each link is one surgery at one hospital: the published median, the nearest alternatives — including across the border — and fourteen years of history.

- **[Skin lesion removal](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/skin-lesion-removal/nt/):** [Royal Darwin Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-darwin-hospital/skin-lesion-removal/) · [Alice Springs Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/alice-springs-hospital/skin-lesion-removal/)
- **[Hernia repair](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/hernia-repair/nt/):** [Alice Springs Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/alice-springs-hospital/hernia-repair/) · [Royal Darwin Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-darwin-hospital/hernia-repair/)
- **[Inguinal hernia repair](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/inguinal-hernia-repair/nt/):** [Royal Darwin Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-darwin-hospital/inguinal-hernia-repair/) · [Alice Springs Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/alice-springs-hospital/inguinal-hernia-repair/)
- **[Carpal tunnel surgery](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/carpal-tunnel-surgery/nt/):** [Alice Springs Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/alice-springs-hospital/carpal-tunnel-surgery/) · [Royal Darwin Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-darwin-hospital/carpal-tunnel-surgery/)
- **[Gallbladder removal](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/gallbladder-removal/nt/):** [Royal Darwin Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-darwin-hospital/gallbladder-removal/) · [Alice Springs Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/alice-springs-hospital/gallbladder-removal/)
- **[Keyhole belly surgery (laparoscopy)](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/laparoscopy/nt/):** [Royal Darwin Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-darwin-hospital/laparoscopy/) · [Alice Springs Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/alice-springs-hospital/laparoscopy/)
- **[Circumcision](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/circumcision/nt/):** [Alice Springs Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/alice-springs-hospital/circumcision/)
- **[Keyhole joint surgery](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/arthroscopy/nt/):** [Royal Darwin Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-darwin-hospital/arthroscopy/) · [Alice Springs Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/alice-springs-hospital/arthroscopy/)
- **[Dilatation and curettage](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/dilatation-and-curettage/nt/):** [Alice Springs Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/alice-springs-hospital/dilatation-and-curettage/) · [Royal Darwin Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-darwin-hospital/dilatation-and-curettage/)
- **[Ganglion cyst removal](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/ganglion-excision-of/nt/):** [Alice Springs Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/alice-springs-hospital/ganglion-excision-of/)
- **[LLETZ procedure](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/lletz-procedure/nt/):** [Royal Darwin Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-darwin-hospital/lletz-procedure/)
- **[Hysterectomy](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/hysterectomy/nt/):** [Royal Darwin Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-darwin-hospital/hysterectomy/) · [Alice Springs Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/alice-springs-hospital/hysterectomy/)
- **[Ovary and fallopian tube surgery](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/salpingo-oophorectomy-oophorectomy-ovarian-cystectomy/nt/):** [Royal Darwin Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-darwin-hospital/salpingo-oophorectomy-oophorectomy-ovarian-cystectomy/)
- **[Bladder scope (cystoscopy)](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/cystoscopy/nt/):** [Alice Springs Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/alice-springs-hospital/cystoscopy/) · [Royal Darwin Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-darwin-hospital/cystoscopy/)
- **[ACL reconstruction](https://surgerywaits.au/surgery/acl-reconstruction/nt/):** [Royal Darwin Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-darwin-hospital/acl-reconstruction/) · [Alice Springs Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/alice-springs-hospital/acl-reconstruction/)

**Cite this page**

> In 2024–25, Northern Territory's published median waits for planned surgery ranged from 1 day for curettage and evacuation of uterus to 377 days for eardrum repair, across 6 public hospitals (AIHW MyHospitals, released 28 May 2026).

### Copy-ready citation

```
Surgery Waits, "Public hospital waiting lists in Northern Territory", 2024–25 data released 28 May 2026, https://surgerywaits.au/state/nt/, accessed 28 May 2026.
```

Attribution: Surgery Waits ([https://surgerywaits.au/state/nt/](https://surgerywaits.au/state/nt/)), from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare MyHospitals data, CC BY 3.0 AU. Reference period 2024–25, released 28 May 2026.

## Every public hospital in Northern Territory

Sorted by how many surgery types each reported for 2024–25. A hospital's own page lists every surgery it reports, its urgency-category figures and its history.

- [Royal Darwin Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/royal-darwin-hospital/) — 116 surgery types
- [Alice Springs Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/alice-springs-hospital/) — 77 surgery types
- [Palmerston Regional Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/palmerston-regional-hospital/) — 51 surgery types
- [Katherine Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/katherine-hospital/) — 28 surgery types
- [Gove Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/gove-hospital/) — 27 surgery types
- [Tennant Creek Hospital](https://surgerywaits.au/hospital/tennant-creek-hospital/) — 0 surgery types

## What is not here

Public hospitals only. Private hospitals do not report to this collection, so their waiting times cannot be compared here.

State medians cover everyone who had that surgery in the state, in all urgency categories together — [how these figures are put together](https://surgerywaits.au/methodology/).

## Before you use these figures

Surgery Waits is not medical advice. It republishes official statistics about waiting times that have already happened, and it does not recommend any hospital, doctor or treatment. Your general practitioner (GP) and your treating specialist are the right people to help you decide what is appropriate for you.

**In an emergency call 000.**

Waiting-time figures: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare MyHospitals, licensed under [CC BY 3.0 AU](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/). Quarterly state figures: Queensland Health. Suburb and locality data: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Both licensed under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Surgery Waits is not connected with any of these organisations.

Surgery Waits is published by [National Digital](https://nationaldigital.com.au/).

* * *

This is the Markdown copy of https://surgerywaits.au/state/nt/.