How much is self-pay cataract surgery in the UK?

Published prices for self-pay cataract surgery run £2,757–£5,631 across 57 UK private hospitals that publish a figure: Spire Healthcare £3,275 (median of 31 hospitals); Nuffield Health £3,545 (median of 26 hospitals). Each operator defines its own inclusions, so the two are not directly interchangeable. No GP referral or private health insurance is required to pay for treatment yourself, and you can self-fund while remaining on the NHS waiting list.

How much does private cataract surgery cost in the UK?

Across the price lists Nuffield Health and Spire Healthcare publish for their own hospitals, cataract surgery runs £2,757–£5,631, with Spire Healthcare £3,275 (median of 31 hospitals); Nuffield Health £3,545 (median of 26 hospitals). The lowest published figure is £2,757 at Spire Abergele Clinic. What a price includes differs by operator — anaesthetist and consultant fees, prosthesis, drugs and follow-up are not always inside the headline number — so confirm the total in writing. Circle Health Group, Ramsay Health Care UK and HCA Healthcare also offer this procedure but are not included in these figures.

How long is the NHS wait for cataract surgery in the UK?

The current median NHS wait for cataract surgery (within the Ophthalmology specialty) in England is approximately 11 weeks. The 92nd percentile (long-tail) wait can extend to 32 weeks. Waits vary significantly by NHS trust — see the city breakdowns below for local figures.

Can I switch from NHS to private for cataract surgery?

Yes. You can self-fund or use private health insurance to access cataract surgery privately while remaining on the NHS waiting list. Many patients do this to avoid the long wait. Some private hospitals offer consultation packages where you can be assessed within days. You will not lose your NHS place by getting a private opinion or treatment.

Which cities have the shortest NHS waits for cataract surgery?

Based on the latest NHS England RTT data, the UK cities with the shortest median waits for ophthalmology (the specialty covering cataract surgery) include Liverpool (5 weeks), Leeds (8 weeks), Newcastle upon Tyne (8 weeks), Bristol (8 weeks), London (9 weeks). See the full city table below.

Is cataract surgery covered by private health insurance?

Most major UK health insurers (Bupa, AXA, Vitality, Aviva, WPA) cover cataract surgery on standard policies, subject to underwriting and policy terms. Pre-existing conditions are typically excluded. Always confirm coverage with your insurer before scheduling.

Cataract surgery cost UK: private from £2,757

Removal of a cloudy lens and replacement with an artificial intraocular lens (IOL). Published private hospital prices run £2,757–£5,631 across 57 hospitals. The current NHS median wait is around 11 weeks.

Published private prices

£2,757–£5,631

57 hospitals, 2 operators — see medians

NHS median wait (England)

11 weeks

Specialty: Ophthalmology

Long-tail wait (92nd percentile)

32 weeks

216,708 patients waiting

According to TreatCompare analysis of NHS England RTT data, the current national median NHS wait for cataract surgery is approximately 11 weeks, while the 92nd percentile wait is approximately 32 weeks.

According to TreatCompare analysis of price lists published by Nuffield Health and Spire Healthcare, private cataract surgery runs £2,757–£5,631 across 57 hospitals: Spire Healthcare £3,275 (median of 31 hospitals); Nuffield Health £3,545 (median of 26 hospitals). Each operator's headline figure covers different things, so the two are reported separately rather than averaged.

According to TreatCompare analysis, users comparing cataract surgery should check local NHS wait by city or postcode before deciding whether private self-pay, insurance or staying on the NHS list is the better route.

TreatCompare NHS wait and private price model. NHS data month: Jul 2026.

Important context

NHS waiting-time figures are published at trust or specialty level. Private prices are read from individual hospitals’ own published price lists and cover two hospital groups rather than the whole private market; each operator defines its own inclusions, so their figures are shown separately and not averaged. Local eligibility, referral route, clinical urgency, provider package and insurance status can change the real-world choice. TreatCompare is for comparison only and is not medical, legal or financial advice.

Source type: Official NHS waiting-time data and private price model
Primary source: NHS England Referral to Treatment waiting-time data
Reporting period: Jul 2026
Last updated: 2026-09-11
Figure type: Mixed sources
Use: Research and comparison only

Are you a clinic, provider or data owner?

If you believe information on this page is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete or presented without necessary context, contact us with the page URL and supporting evidence. We review correction requests promptly, but they are not automatically accepted.

Request a correction View methodology

What private hospitals publish for cataract surgery

57 hospitals across 2 operators publish a price for this procedure. Each operator’s figures are shown separately, against that operator’s own definition of what the price covers.

Operator	Median	Across its hospitals	Hospitals	What the figure covers
Spire Healthcare	£3,275	£2,757–£5,631	31	Guide price, includes consultant fee and initial consultation.One eye, worded by Spire as "with eyesight correction" — excludes bilateral.
Nuffield Health	£3,545	£2,870–£4,210	26	Guide price, excludes consultant fees, prosthesis and drugs.One eye, standard (monofocal) lens — excludes eyesight-correcting lenses.

Why there is no single figure. These two operators define their headline price differently — Nuffield Health says its guide price excludes consultant fees, while Spire Healthcare’s includes a consultant fee and an initial consultation. Their published figures track each other closely across every procedure both price, but that is a pattern in the numbers, not a statement either company makes. Averaging them would imply a like-for-like comparison neither operator has confirmed.

Read from each operator’s own published price pages, 2026-10-05. Prices change and exclusions differ — confirm the total in writing with the hospital before booking. This covers two of the UK’s private hospital groups, not the whole private market.

UK private hospital scrape signals

Checked 31 private provider sources on 9 Sept 2026; 8 returned crawlable signals. 8 crawlable GBP price signals captured.

Provider	Signal	Captured value	Source
Nuffield Health Bournemouth Hospital	Price Cataract surgery guide price	£4,210	Provider page
Nuffield Health Brighton Hospital	Price Cataract surgery guide price	£3,525	Provider page
Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital	Price Cataract surgery guide price	£3,255	Provider page
Nuffield Health Chester Hospital	Price Cataract surgery guide price	£3,255	Provider page
Nuffield Health Glasgow Hospital	Price Cataract surgery guide price	£3,620	Provider page
Nuffield Health Oxford Hospital	Price Cataract surgery guide price	£3,470	Provider page
Nuffield Health Woking Hospital	Price Cataract surgery guide price	£3,405	Provider page
Nuffield Health Wolverhampton Hospital	Price Cataract surgery guide price	£2,870	Provider page

Help improve this dataset

Seen a different cataract surgery price?

Send the provider, price, inclusions and source date. We review submissions before publishing and use them to catch stale quotes, missing fees and better local options.

Submit a price Provider update Manage alerts

Compare your route

Choose the right cataract surgery comparison route

People often start with the national price, then drill into a city, postcode area or referral route. These links keep that path visible from the top of the page.

Finance options

National overviewCurrentPrivate from £2,757 with NHS waits across England.Liverpool city pageA local NHS wait page with trust context and private price range.Postcode area pagesStart with a postcode area and move into outcode-level pages.Private GP referralCheck same-day GP and referral options before contacting hospitals.All NHS vs privateCompare other procedures if the patient is still researching options.

Decision paths

Compare cataract surgery waits, prices and next actions

These pages are most useful when visitors move from the national benchmark into a local wait, private price range, referral route or price-update action.

Check NHS wait in your areaStart with Liverpool, then compare other cities.See published prices£2,757–£5,631 across 57 hospitals, with each operator's median.Use postcode pagesMove from postcode area to outcode-level NHS wait context.Compare referral routesPrivate GP and referral-letter options before contacting hospitals.Submit a price updateSend a hospital quote or updated provider fee.Ask for verificationRequest editorial or reviewer checking for this page.

Track cataract surgery waits and prices

Get notified when we update the private price range or add new provider context.

We'll send a confirmation link first. No marketing — alerts only. Unsubscribe with one click in any email.

Compare eyecare prices on TreatCompare

We track live private prices for this treatment from verified UK providers.

See eyecare prices →

NHS wait by city — fastest first

City	Median wait	Compare locally
Liverpool	5 weeks	See Liverpool →
Leeds	8 weeks	See Leeds →
Newcastle upon Tyne	8 weeks	See Newcastle upon Tyne →
Bristol	8 weeks	See Bristol →
London	9 weeks	See London →
Sunderland	9 weeks	See Sunderland →
Bradford	9 weeks	See Bradford →
Leicester	10 weeks	See Leicester →
Preston	10 weeks	See Preston →
York	10 weeks	See York →
Birmingham	11 weeks	See Birmingham →
Middlesbrough	11 weeks	See Middlesbrough →
Reading	11 weeks	See Reading →
Sheffield	11 weeks	See Sheffield →
Brighton	11 weeks	See Brighton →
Plymouth	11 weeks	See Plymouth →
Southampton	11 weeks	See Southampton →
Blackpool	12 weeks	See Blackpool →
Cambridge	12 weeks	See Cambridge →
Derby	13 weeks	See Derby →
Nottingham	13 weeks	See Nottingham →
Hull	13 weeks	See Hull →
Exeter	14 weeks	See Exeter →
Norwich	14 weeks	See Norwich →
Portsmouth	14 weeks	See Portsmouth →
Manchester	15 weeks	See Manchester →
Stoke-on-Trent	15 weeks	See Stoke-on-Trent →
Coventry	17 weeks	See Coventry →
Milton Keynes	17 weeks	See Milton Keynes →
Oxford	18 weeks	See Oxford →

Looking for cataract surgery waits by postcode?

We also publish wait times by postcode area, mapped to the NHS trust most likely to accept your GP referral.

See cataract surgery by postcode area →

All English cities

Other procedures

Knee replacement surgery Hip replacement surgery Hernia repair Varicose vein treatment Hysterectomy Tonsillectomy Gallbladder removal Carpal tunnel release Bunion surgery Shoulder arthroscopy Colonoscopy MRI scan CT scan X-ray Ultrasound scan Echocardiogram