Ireland falls behind EU in cataract removal surgery
Ireland has one of the lowest rates of any European country for carrying out operations on a condition that is one of the main causes of impaired vision.
Figures published by the EU show Ireland had the joint lowest rate together with Slovakia for operations to remove cataracts.
Both countries perform an average of two cataract operations per 1,000 individuals each year.
Around 4.5m cataract operations were performed in the EU, including 10,385 in Ireland, in 2016 — the latest year for which comparative figures are available.
Cataract surgery is now a common medical procedure involving the extraction of the lens from an eye with most patients having the surgery on a day-release basis.
The European Commission said the proportion of the population which had a contract operation varied noticeably across the different EU member states but the vast majority carried out between 4 and 12 operations per 1,000 inhabitants — at least twice the average in the Republic.
The Irish College of Ophthalmologists (ICO), which represents more than 200 eye doctors, said there was no doubt that there were not enough eye specialists employed in the Irish healthcare system.
“We know from waiting lists that is the case and there is a need to expand capacity in this area,” an ICO spokeswoman said.
The ICO, however, said the situation was probably not as bad as painted by the EU figures, as they did not appear to include the number of cataract surgeries carried out at private hospitals and clinics as well as patients who travel to Northern Ireland for the same operation under the Cross-Border Directive scheme.
The spokeswoman said there had also been an increase in the number of cataract operations at public hospitals over the past 18 months which had helped to bring down waiting lists, although Ireland was still likely to have comparatively low cataract surgery rates.
The ICO welcomed the opening of dedicated cataract units at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in Dublin and at Nenagh Hospital. The facility in Co Tipperary, which was only open one day a week last year, is scheduled to perform up to 2,000 cataract surgeries after it moves to a five-day operation.
“Dedicated stand-alone centres are the most efficient approach to carrying out cataract surgery,” the ICO spokeswoman said.
Health Minister, Simon Harris said the number of people waiting for cataract operations had fallen from more than 10,000 in July 2017 to 6,449 by the end of 2018 — a decline of 36%.
The National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) also acknowledged that waiting lists for cataract operations were falling but still expressed concern that patients experienced unnecessary delays which could affect their quality of life.
