Good Practice Guidance Introduction Significantly improving access to treatment for people who need cataract surgery will bring about a real improvement in the lives of millions of mainly elderly people.
Many patients wait much longer.
Long waiting times need to be significantly reduced. Capital funding will be made available to a number of sites on condition that they ensure that all patients can have surgery within 6 months of referral. The NHS carried out about 170,000 cataract operations in 1998-9. Improving the efficiency of the care pathway, and improving facilities at the Modernisation sites, will increase this to 250,000 by 2003. Increasing the number of cataract operations to 250,000 is equivalent to 3,200 cases per 100,000 people aged 65 and over.