ScotWaits

Ophthalmology waits across Scotland

Every health board ranked by median wait, shortest first. These count how long people currently on the list have waited so far, for treatment once they have been listed for it.

The gap is wide: NHS Highland is currently 6 weeks while NHS Orkney is 47 weeks. Both figures rest on a large enough sample to be meaningful.

  1. 1NHS Highland6 weeks · about 6 weeks
  2. 2NHS Lothian8 weeks · about 2 months
  3. 3NHS Western Isles8 weeks · about 2 months
  4. 4NHS Borders14 weeks · about 3 months
  5. 5NHS Grampian14 weeks · about 3 months
  6. 6NHS Ayrshire and Arran17 weeks · about 4 months
  7. 7NHS Dumfries and Galloway18 weeks · about 4 months
  8. 8NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde19 weeks · about 4 months
  9. 9NHS Lanarkshire19 weeks · about 4 months
  10. 10NHS Shetland20 weeks · about 5 months
  11. 11NHS Fife21 weeks · about 5 months
  12. 12NHS Forth Valley21 weeks · about 5 months
  13. 13NHS Tayside28 weeks · about 6 months
  14. 14NHS Orkney47 weeks · about 11 months

Boards marked “only n patients” rest on fewer than 30 people, which is too few for a meaningful median — a small board near the top of this table is usually a statistical artefact rather than a fast service. Boards with no published figure are listed last.

You can’t simply pick a board. Scotland has no equivalent of England’s Right to Choose. Where you’re referred is a matter for your GP — though it’s worth asking, since smaller boards do sometimes refer patients elsewhere for a specialty rather than running their own list.