Cataract surgery denied to thousands across the UK

Thousands of elderly people with cataracts have been left at enhanced risk of falls and lower quality of life as a result of increased screening ahead of operations, an investigation by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has found.

Despite the introduction of revised National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on cataract surgery in 2017, that deemed the operation to be cost effective and not limited to those with the most severe vision loss, the BMJ’s report found that more people were being screened and those who did not meet visual acuity thresholds were being denied surgery.

One in five patients (22%) had a pre-approval check after being referred, a rise from 7% of patients who were screened in 2016-17. Nearly 3,000 patients saw their ophthalmologist’s request for the procedure rejected outright, twice as many as two years ago.