Local patients endure 24 month wait for cataract surgery

Child and adult patients in counties Cavan and Monaghan are facing waits of up to 20 and 24 months respectively for cataract surgery.
The delay in accessing care has been slammed as “unacceptably long” by Sinn Féin general election candidate Pauline Tully, who says that patients are suffering “undue hardship” when seeking what is an otherwise relatively simple procedure.
Ms Tully was responding to figures obtained by Sinn Féin’s Health spokesperson Louise O’Reilly TD.
“The information released from the Association of Optometrists Ireland is incredibly worrying. Cataract procedures take on average 10 minutes to perform, yet there are over 6,000 patients waiting on an operation across the state including many hundreds living in Cavan-Monaghan.”

Not working
She adds that in waiting 20 and 24 months for cataract surgery patients they might “lose their sight completely” resulting in a “loss of their independence” and placing them at risk from accidents and falls.
“The current system is not working and it needs to be overhauled,” she said, calling on the Government to examine how patient lists are managed via the award-winning Sligo Cataract Scheme, which has resulted in the Sligo-Leitrim constituency having the shortest waiting time in the State.
The cost-neutral scheme, Ms Tully needs to be rolled out nationwide with urgency so that Optometrists and Hospital Eye Departments can “work together to reduce these unacceptably high waiting lists”.