Bill Harvey: Something better change

So, CCGs think that cataract extraction is of ‘limited clinical value’. We all need to voice our rage at this at every opportunity possible.

Old people have, for too long, been made to feel guilty if asking for a treatment which would sort out any problem that can be dismissed as ‘part of growing old’. The gradual and painless loss of vision caused by cataract is all too easily considered by many as having a minor impact upon life. Throw into the mix the fact that many patients may have only a few years left to live along with the belief (in my view quite wrong) that their lifestyle may not demand as high a visual capability than a younger, more active working person, and you now have the perfect excuse for an administrator to relegate cataract extractions in the priority list for funding from a reduced budget.