Cataract operations on the rise

charles tabone

Oct 1st 2011, 15:07

Can somebody at Ministry of Health explain this phenomenon of catarct operations on the increase? We are all glad and hats off, but aren't patients being operated by the same surgeons who are paid by public funds as they are on the Mater Dei payroll, as well as pruvately remunerated at St.James. Then the minister says that cataract ops at St James are cheaper. Working it out, it is dearer as the same persons are being paid either half as much again or double. But nobody seems to care about the good use of time and financial management.

Mr Paul Caruana

Oct 1st 2011, 10:16

Considering the relative sizes of St James and MDH, the relative number of operations quoted for St James is impressive - and if cataract operations are working out cheaper when this operative intervention is farmed out to the private sector, so much the better!

It does not take a genius to figure out that government needs to study carefully this issue: there might be other, very specific situations similar to this one, where it would actually works out cheaper to subcontract to the private sector, rather than government trying to take on the ever increasing health burden of the country all on its own.