Private hospitals insists they are able to do cataract operations

The two private hospitals chosen to carry out cataract operations following an agreement with the government insisted eye surgeries would be performed in a professional manner despite the Labour Party claim that one of them was not properly equipped.

Health Minister Joseph Cassar announced on Monday the government would be outsourcing cataract operations to Saint James Hospital and St Anne’s Clinic to reduce waiting lists.

Labour health spokesman Marie Louise Coleiro Preca said yesterday one of the two clinics had never carried out a cataract operation and was not equipped for it.

This was strongly denied by the ministry, which said both clinics were licensed and the decision to outsource the operations had been done following consultation with ophthalmology chair Thomas Fenech.

When contacted, Saint James director Maria Bugeja said the hospital had a dedicated ophthalmic unit that had been operating for years.

St Anne’s clinical manager, Isabel Vella, too said their ophthalmic surgeons and the rest of the staff had done “hundreds of these procedures” and used the same equipment the hospital recently invested in. Thus, although cataract surgery had not been carried out in the actual clinic, the staff there was experienced and the hospital was equipped, she said.

Ms Vella said the clinic has been in operation since 1996 while the operating theatre was set up in 2008. “Since then we have had an exceptional track record... In the case of cataract patients coming to St Anne’s Clinic through this initiative, St Anne’s has already invested heavily in the newest and most technologically-advanced machinery for cataract surgery,” she said.

Ms Vella invited Ms Coleiro Preca to visit the clinic if she had any doubts.

According to figures released in Parliament in June, 13,502 operations were pending at Mater Dei Hospital. The longest list was for the removal of cataracts, which amounted to 4,752.

Ms Coleiro Preca said that, while the outsourcing agreement was good news for patients, the decision had been taken without consulting Mater Dei Hospital’s Ophthalmology Department. She said that people who worked in the department were annoyed at this and, as a result, there was a lack of cooperation in preparing patients and treating them post-operatively.

The ministry accused Ms Coleiro Preca of using vulnerable people for partisan motives and attempting to instil doubt in the minds of those waiting to undergo their cataract operation. “The aim behind outsourcing will only continue until the waiting list has been reduced,” the ministry said.