A total 360 cataract operations have been held in the past two months, through an agreement with private hospitals, Health Minister Joseph Cassar said today.
Speaking during a visit to St James' Hospital, the minister said that by the end of the week 136 operations would have been held at St James (Capua). A total of 248 operations were held at Mater Dei in August and September.
The minister said that patients were not being made to pay for the service at St James. The government was paying reasonable rates for the operations at St James and these were working out to be cheaper than the same operations at Mater Dei.
The minister said that in the coming weeks another agreement which would see a reduction in the waiting period of other operations would be announced.