The number of NSW patients waiting longer than clinically recommended for cataract surgery is at record levels, with the latest Bureau of Health Information (BHI) also revealing which public eye hospital departments are struggling to recover from COVID-related surgery shutdowns.
The latest information from the April to June 2022 quarter shows only 64.2% of cataract surgeries were performed on time, a stark drop from the 93.1% rate at the same time last year. The numbers were similar for all ophthalmology surgery categories in the state.
However, it’s important to note that between these reporting periods the Delta and Omicron COVID-19 strains caused intermittent elective surgery shutdowns, with the NSW Government labelling January to March 2022 one of the most challenging quarters on record.
According to BHI, there were 98,625 patients on the NSW elective surgery waiting list at the end of June, down 2.3% (2,286) from the end of March. At the end of the quarter, 18,748 patients had waited longer for elective surgery than clinically recommended, the highest of any quarter since BHI began reporting in 2010.
Cataract surgery was a major contributor to this, with 2,417 patients waiting longer than recommended. This was the highest number among all surgeries in the quarter, ballooning from just 76 patients a year ago. A graph of the data can be found here.
And it’s also the second highest number on record of cataract patients waiting longer than recommended after peaking in the previous January to March 2022 quarter at 2,565.
In terms of cataract surgeries performed on time, the Hunter New England Local Health District (LDH) was the best at 97.4%, while South Eastern Sydney was the worst, with just 24.1% performed on time compared to 99.9% at the same time last year.
And there were 19,418 ready and waiting for cataract surgery, which is up 6.5% (1,177) on same time last year. South Eastern Sydney has the most ready (3,412), which is 33% or 847 patients up from same time last year.
Overall elective surgeries
BHI acting chief executive Ms Hilary Rowell said there were 53,712 elective surgeries performed in April to June 2022 in NSW.
“Fewer elective surgeries were performed than the historically high numbers a year earlier, but activity was up 41.1% (15,649) compared with January to March 2022, when non-urgent surgery was suspended for a period of time,” she said.
Waiting times for non-urgent surgery continued to increase – half of those patients waited longer than 339 days before receiving their surgery.
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