Aces to cut cataract treatment times in Newcastle

^{First cataract surgery patient at the ACES Newcastle clinic, Pauline from Wallsend, centre.}

Community eye care provider, Anglia Community Eye Services (Aces), has won approval to provide vital services including cataract surgery for NHS eye care patients in Newcastle.

The St Nichola Street clinic would help reduce the cataract surgery backlog, with patients at the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust regularly waiting longer than 18 weeks for treatments.

To date, Aces ophthalmic treatment centres, which typically treat cataract patients within four weeks from referral, have also been launched in Exeter, Birmingham, Manchester and Dartford.

Stephen Hannan, clinical services director at Aces, said: ‘This partnership has been instrumental in helping patients across the country to get the visual care they need.