The number of cataract operations last year – both at Mater Dei and those outsourced to private hospitals – amounted to over 3,000, alleviating to some extent the “headache” of whatis no longer the longest waiting list.

Arthroscopic surgeries for the knee are next in line to be outsourced

A year ago, 5,600 patients were on that list.

Today, including the new cases that are added to it regularly, the number is down to 3,735, said Health Minister Joe Cassar.

Waiting time, which stood at five years at the start of the legislature, has been whittled down to 18 months, Dr Cassar said, adding that “we are almost there”.

Patients on the waiting list since August, September and October 2010 were currently undergoing surgery.

Mater Dei’s Ophthalmology Department had said it was aiming to start carrying out 3,000 cataract operations a year – up from 2,438 last year – reducing the maximum waiting time to one year by the end of 2012.

Since the public-private partnership agreement was set in motion in August, 579 operations have been carried out at Saint James Hospital and St Anne’s Clinic for free.

The reduction in waiting time was also due to the fact that the rhythm at Mater Dei has been speeded up, thanks to a change in work practices, including operating times and the preparation of patients.

Asked how much it costs the government to outsource these interventions, Dr Cassar said he could not reveal exact figures for commercial reasons but assured they did not cost more than operations at the public hospital, bearing in mind the consumables and human resources required.

A separate vote has been allocated to cut down waiting lists, over an above the hospital budget, for 2011 and 2012.

Cataracts operations are not complicated but can cause serious health problems if they are not carried out, Dr Cassar said. He was speaking in the presence of patients, who had had their cataracts removed, at St Anne’s Clinic in Birkirkara, where 200 operations were carried out.

Arthroscopic surgeries, whereby a telescope is used to look inside the knee for diagnosis and treatment of, for example, torn cartilages and cruciate ligaments, are next in line to be outsourced to private hospitals.

The waiting list for these interventions, an important procedure among youths, stands at around 1,800 and is one of the longest, with a waiting time of about one year.

Mr Cassar said an expression of interest is soon to be issued so that they could start to be farmed out to private hospitals.