Cataract Surgery in the North East of England

Cataract is a common and important cause of visual impairment with no proven preventive or medical treatments. The only effective way to restore or maintain vision is surgical removal of the clouded part of the lens (cataract surgery). Cataract surgery is the most common surgical operation carried out in England and is frequently performed on older people since most cataracts are age-related. The benefits of cataract procedures are immense; loss of vision threatens independence and long periods with impaired vision and impaired quality of life increase the likelihood of deterioration in general health.

In this report we use Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data to compare the performance of hospital trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in the North of England against recommendations in Action on Cataracts and averages for the North East and England.