West Cork patients wait 5 years for cataract surgery

Patients in West Cork can wait five years for cataract surgery, with the average waiting time nationwide at 28 months, according to a survey by optometrists.

Children under 12 in East Cork have the longest wait among their age group for surgery, with an average waiting period of 15 months, a countrywide survey of members carried out by the Association of Optometrists Ireland (AOI) showed.

AOI president Tríona Culliton said the problem stemmed from an over-reliance on HSE eye clinics and hospital ophthalmology departments to provide almost all public care, but the system was in need of an overhaul.