Surgery Waits

Cataract surgery waiting time at Weipa Hospital

The median wait for cataract surgery — published by the source as "Cataract extraction (with or without intra-ocular lens insertion)" — at this public hospital in the Rocky Point area of Queensland was 5 days in 2024–25.

Reference period 2024–25 (1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025) · released

These figures describe surgery that already happened, not your own wait.

Median wait
5 days2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
Surgeries completed
97 surgeries2024–25 · released 28 May 2026
Waited more than 365 days
0.0%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 4 when they are ordered from shortest median to longest. Hospitals with the same median share a rank.

The median wait here has fallen from 72 days in 2016–17 to 5 days in 2024–25 — down 93% — while the national median rose from 85 days to 106 days. The nearest public hospital with a shorter published wait is Thursday Island Hospital, about 229 km away, at 4 days. Here, 0.0% 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
Weipa Hospital5 days0.0%97 surgeries
Northern Territory (all public hospitals)162 days20.4%921 surgeries
Queensland (all public hospitals)82 days1.9%8868 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 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.

How the wait has changed

Median wait for cataract extraction (with or without intra-ocular lens insertion) by financial year at Weipa Hospital, compared with Queensland and Australiadays0501001502002011–122014–152017–182020–212023–242024–25Weipa Hospital 5QLD 82Australia 106
  • Weipa Hospital
  • QLD
  • Australia
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 periodWeipa Hospital (days)QLD (days)Australia (days)
2011–12not reported for this period5189
2012–13not reported for this period4489
2013–14not reported for this period5279
2014–15not reported for this period5783
2015–16not reported for this period6493
2016–17727085
2017–18not reported for this period8787
2018–19not published7284
2019–20708398
2020–216584172
2021–22not published84158
2022–23477133
2023–24276119
2024–25582106

Queensland's quarterly figures for ophthalmology

These are not figures for cataract extraction (with or without intra-ocular lens insertion). Queensland reports by surgical specialty, not by procedure. A specialty covers many different operations, so a specialty figure is never a figure for any one of them.

Queensland Health publishes its own figures every three months. They count differently from the national figures above and are never combined with them. This quarter ends after the national reporting period, so it is the more recent of the two.

Covers July to September 2025, published by Queensland Health on 28 October 2025. Reported as Weipa.

Patients treated
58 patientsJuly to September 2025 · released 28 October 2025
Treated within the recommended time
100.0%July to September 2025 · released 28 October 2025
Still waiting at the end of the quarter
18 patientsJuly to September 2025 · released 28 October 2025
Waiting longer than recommended
2 patientsJuly to September 2025 · released 28 October 2025

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

All surgery at Weipa Hospital · Cataract surgery across Australia · Cataract surgery in Queensland