One eye enough under booking system

By Keith Perry

One eye is all you need to see, according to the Government's surgery booking system.

Elderly patients with cataracts in both eyes are being granted just one operation to restore their sight.

Afterwards, they are told that as they can see well enough out of one eye, they do not qualify under the booking system for more surgery.

The new rule has been highlighted by the case of a 69-year-old Palmerston North man who had a cataract removed from his left eye last September.

His right eye also has a cataract, but last week the hospital's eye clinic told him that because he could now see well out of his left eye, he did not qualify to have an operation on his right eye.

The booking system, introduced last July, scores patients on level of need. If their score qualifies them, they are given a date for surgery. If not, they are referred to their GP to have their condition managed.

Before the booking system came in, people were able to have both eyes operated on. Last year 10,300 people needed cataract surgery.

The chairman of the Medical Association, Dr Anton Wiles, said the rule was being applied nationally and an eye surgeon, who did not want to be identified, said problems were emerging everywhere.

Dr Wiles said: "It is a sad reflection on the state of health funding in this country."

The Palmerston North man, who missed out on a second operation by just two points, was told he would be put on a residual waiting list but his chances of more surgery were very low.

A MidCentral Health spokesman, Terry Tacon, urged the man to ask to be reassessed if he was refused a driving licence in May. The impact on his quality of life of not being able to drive could give him the extra points he needed.

The Minister of Health, Wyatt Creech, promised to investigate.