Cataract operations waiting list slashed

The waiting list for cataract operations has been significantly whittled down since operations started being sub-contracted to the private sector, Health Minister Joseph Cassar said this afternoon.

He said that 579 operations which were on the Mater Dei Hospital waiting list were performed at St Anne Clinic or St James Hospital since August while output had also improved at Mater Dei thanks to improved work practices.

As a result, a waiting list which had stretched to five years at its peak was now down to 18 months and the target was to reduce it to 12 months.

Speaking during a visit to St Anne Clinic in Birkirkara, Dr Cassar said there were 5,600 patients on the waiting list for cataract operations this time last year. Now there were 3,735 - and that included the cases diagnosed over the past year. Some 2,400 cataract operations are held at Mater Dei every year.

He said the success of this partnership would be taken forward with a similar arrangement being made for knee arthroscopy procedures, for which there also was long waiting time.