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UK · Cataract surgery · Self-pay

Private cataract surgery cost in the UK: price per eye, the NHS wait and clinics abroad

Prices read (Taipei time)

Short answer

Private cataract surgery costs £2,000 to £4,240 per eye at the UK providers that publish a price, read on 31 October 2026. The lens is what moves the price: the cheapest lens option costs £2,000 to £2,295 at four of them, and a multifocal or extended depth of focus lens about £3,500 to £3,600. On the NHS the operation is free for people who qualify, so the choice is usually the private price against the NHS wait.

UK private, per eye
£2,000 to £4,240 (6 providers)
Standard lens
From £2,000 (Optical Express)
Premium lenses
About £500 to £1,500 more per eye; private only
NHS
Free if you qualify; some areas set a 14 to 16 week minimum wait
Cheapest abroad, with travel
About £1,100 (Hungary)

Private cataract surgery cost in the UK, provider by provider

Each price is the provider's own published self-pay price for one eye, cheapest first. Read what it includes: some prices leave out the consultation, and the most expensive figures are for premium lenses.

Figure 1UK self-pay price per eye, cataract surgery

Lowest to highest published price per eye in GBP. Sources and dates are listed at the end of the page.
Optical ExpressUK-wide
Per eye£2,000
What the page saysStandard cataract surgery (premium monofocal lens), per eye. Enhanced (premium toric monofocal) £2,795 and advanced (premium multifocal) £3,495 per eye. Aftercare appointments for 12 months and medication for 3 months included; free consultation. Source
Practice Plus GroupEngland (21 centres listed)
Per eye£2,099
What the page saysCataract surgery, standard monofocal lens, per eye (self-pay). Self-pay price per eye. The initial consultation, with tests, is £145 extra; the page says it is available within 2 to 4 weeks and surgery about 2 to 4 weeks later. Source
St John & St Elizabeth HospitalLondon
Per eye£2,175
What the page saysCataract surgery, standard lens, one eye. Estimated hospital charges from admission to discharge. Premium lens £2,850. Source
NewmedicaUK-wide
Per eye£2,295
What the page saysCataract surgery, standard monofocal lens, per eye (self-pay). Self-pay price per eye; premium monofocal £2,795, premium toric £3,195, multifocal or extended depth of focus £3,595. The page says cataract surgery includes a free, no-obligation consultation. Source
OCL VisionLondon
Per eye£2,990 to £4,240
What the page saysCataract surgery, per eye, by lens. Per eye, depending on the lens; initial consultation from £270 extra. Follow-up appointments listed. Source
Nuffield HealthUK-wide
Per eye£3,613
What the page saysCataract surgery, one eye, average guide price. Pre-assessment, surgery and aftercare; first consultation £200 extra. Lens type not stated. Source

How much the lens adds

Two providers publish a price for every lens they offer. Practice Plus Group says the standard monofocal lens is the one the NHS offers: it improves distance vision but does not correct astigmatism, intermediate or near vision, and most patients still need glasses afterwards. Enhanced lenses are only available privately (Practice Plus Group).

Newmedica

  • Standard monofocal: £2,295 per eye
  • Premium monofocal: £2,795 per eye (£500 more)
  • Premium monofocal toric (astigmatism): £3,195 per eye (£900 more)
  • Multifocal or extended depth of focus: £3,595 per eye (£1,300 more)

Free consultation for cataract surgery. Newmedica price list, read 31 October 2026.

Optical Express

  • Premium monofocal (“standard”): £2,000 per eye
  • Premium toric monofocal (“enhanced”): £2,795 per eye (£795 more)
  • Premium multifocal (“advanced”): £3,495 per eye (£1,495 more)

Free consultation; 12 months of aftercare and 3 months of medication included. Optical Express price list, read 31 October 2026.

SpaMedica, which does not publish its own price, puts private cataract surgery at between £2,000 and £4,000 per eye, and says most people qualify for free surgery on the NHS, with eligibility set by the local integrated care board (SpaMedica).

The NHS wait you would be paying to skip

NHS England does not publish a waiting time for cataract surgery alone. For eye care as a whole, 72.2% of people waiting were within 18 weeks of referral in August 2026, against the 92% standard (NHS England RTT).

A minimum wait in Kent. The BBC reported on 30 October 2026 that a 70-year-old man from near Maidstone, Kent was referred by his optician on 9 October 2026 and told routine cataract surgery would not take place for at least 16 weeks. He said he plans to pay nearly £3,000 to have it done privately. NHS Kent and Medway said routine cataract patients across the area could expect surgery no sooner than 16 weeks after referral, and those with the greatest clinical need continued to be prioritised. The RNIB told the BBC: “Some NHS boards are imposing a minimum 14-week wait” (BBC News).

Kent and Medway is not one of the boards The BMJ named in September. Its survey found 17 of 36 boards in England setting minimum waits of 12 to 16 weeks, 3 of them for cataract or eye surgery specifically (South East London, 16 weeks; Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, 14 weeks; Thames Valley, 14 weeks). The full list and your rights are on NHS minimum waits by area.

Before you pay, two NHS routes can be faster. In England you may have the right to choose where you are treated for your first outpatient appointment (NHS), and the My Planned Care website shows the average wait at each hospital so you can compare them (NHS). Independent providers such as Newmedica, SpaMedica and Practice Plus Group also do NHS cataract surgery, so ask your optician or GP which providers your area uses. More on the NHS cataract surgery wait.

Cataract surgery abroad: the price with the trip

Clinics abroad publish lower prices per eye, but the trip adds a flight and a hotel, and you may need a second trip for the other eye. These are the lowest published prices in each country we track, converted to GBP, next to the same price with a rough return flight and hotel.

Hungary
Clinic, per eye£628
With travel£1,100
Against £2,000Cheaper abroad
Poland
Clinic, per eye£667
With travel£1,110
Against £2,000Cheaper abroad
Thailand
Clinic, per eye£909
With travel£1,980
Against £2,000Only just cheaper
Spain
Clinic, per eye£1,660
With travel£2,100
Against £2,000Not cheaper
Turkey
Clinic, per eye£1,630
With travel£2,200
Against £2,000Not cheaper
Malaysia
Clinic, per eye£1,370
With travel£2,440
Against £2,000Not cheaper
Mexico
Clinic, per eye£1,760
With travel£2,880
Against £2,000Not cheaper
United Arab Emirates
Clinic, per eye£4,170
With travel£4,940
Against £2,000Not cheaper

Clinic price = the lowest comparable price each country's clinics publish. Travel is a rough estimate, not a quote. Verdict compares one eye with the lowest UK price per eye (£2,000). Every price line by country: cataract surgery cost by country.

The operation is short, but there is a pre-operative assessment before it and a check after it. Ask the clinic how many days it wants you to stay, whether it treats both eyes on one trip, and who will see you at home for the check and if anything needs follow-up, before you book.

Should you pay, wait or travel?

  1. Ask for your NHS dateAsk the provider you were referred to for the expected date, and whether your area sets a minimum wait.
  2. Compare NHS providersCheck the average wait at other hospitals on My Planned Care, and ask your GP or optician about moving your referral.
  3. Get two written UK quotesPer eye, with the lens named, the consultation and aftercare included or not, and the surgery date.
  4. Only then price a tripAbroad is worth it on price only if the total for both eyes, with travel, is clearly below the UK quote.

Private cataract surgery cost UK: questions

How much is cataract surgery privately in the UK?

£2,000 to £4,240 per eye at the 6 UK providers we checked on 31 October 2026. A standard lens costs £2,000 at Optical Express and £2,295 at Newmedica; premium lenses add about £500 to £1,500 per eye at the providers that price each lens.

Is the price per eye?

Yes. Every UK price on this page is per eye. If both eyes need surgery, two standard-lens operations at the lowest price we found come to £4,000 (our sum). Ask whether the clinic charges less for the second eye; none of the pages we read said so.

How much does Specsavers charge for cataract surgery?

We could not check. Specsavers’ website blocked our reader on 31 October 2026, so we have no Specsavers price we can verify, and we do not repeat prices quoted by other sites. If you have a quote, check that it is per eye, which lens it uses, and whether the consultation and aftercare are included, then compare it with the prices above.

Is the consultation included in the price?

It depends on the provider. Newmedica and Optical Express say the cataract consultation is free; Practice Plus Group charges £145 for an initial consultation with tests, and OCL Vision lists an initial consultation from £270.

How long is the NHS wait for cataract surgery?

There is no national figure for cataract surgery alone. For eye care as a whole in England, 72.2% of people waiting were within 18 weeks of referral in August 2026. Some areas also set a minimum wait: NHS Kent and Medway told the BBC that routine cataract patients could expect surgery no sooner than 16 weeks after referral.

Is cataract surgery cheaper abroad?

The cheapest published price abroad we found is in Hungary: about £628 at the clinic, or about £1,100 with a rough flight and hotel from the UK. That is about £902 less than the lowest UK price per eye, before any second trip for the other eye or a follow-up check.

Sources

  1. How much does private cataract surgery cost?. Optical Express (UK). Read 31 October 2026.
  2. Private cataract surgery: standard monofocal lens. Practice Plus Group, 22 January 2026. Read 31 October 2026.
  3. Cataract surgery. St John & St Elizabeth Hospital, London. Read 26 October 2026.
  4. Private eye treatment prices. Newmedica. Read 31 October 2026.
  5. How much does private cataract surgery cost?. OCL Vision (London). Read 31 October 2026.
  6. Cataract surgery. Nuffield Health. Read 26 October 2026.
  7. Referral to Treatment (RTT) waiting times statistical press notice, August 2026. NHS England, 8 October 2026. Read 26 October 2026.
  8. Cataracts: how much does cataract surgery cost?. SpaMedica. Read 31 October 2026.
  9. Pensioner pays £3k to avoid NHS eye surgery wait. BBC News (Kent), 30 October 2026. Read 31 October 2026.
  10. Half of England’s health boards deliberately delaying patient care with ‘minimum waits’ (press release for The BMJ, doi 10.1136/bmj-2026-100765). BMJ Group, 9 September 2026. Read 30 October 2026.
  11. Guide to NHS waiting times in England. NHS, 2 December 2019. Read 31 October 2026.
  12. My Planned Care. NHS. Read 31 October 2026.
  13. Referrals for specialist care. NHS, 12 April 2023. Read 31 October 2026.
  14. Euro foreign exchange reference rates. European Central Bank, 23 October 2026. Read 26 October 2026.