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Cataracts: Surgery

Volume 459: debated on Wednesday 18 April 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time was for cataract operations in (a) North Yorkshire, (b) County Durham and (c) England in the latest period for which figures are available; and how many cataract operations were cancelled and re-arranged following an initial date for the operation being given in the same period. (129489)

The average waiting times for cataract operations in the former strategic health authorities for County Durham and Tees Valley and North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire in 2005-06 are given in the following table.

Strategic health authority

Median time waited (days)

County Durham and Tees Valley

62

North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire

75

England

69

Notes:

1. Data are for finished admission episodes, i.e. the first period of in-patient care under one consultant with one Healthcare provider.

2. Time waited is the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates.

Source:

Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for health and social care.

The Department does not collect data on numbers of cancelled operations for individual procedures such as cataract operations.