Tommy Owens Workers Party Representative Omagh has criticised the situation within the Health Service that has lead to only two hospitals in Northern Ireland carrying out Cataract Removals.
Tommy Owens commented that whilst Cataract surgery is a straightforward surgical procedure that takes between twenty and thirty minutes it can be extremely challenging for those who have to live with it.
The condition usually comes as people get older and limits their day to day activities. Older people who live alone are particularly vulnerable when faced with this condition. Accidents in the home becomes a serious consequence for older people when it is left untreated. The fact that people are on waiting lists for up to six years before receiving a first appointment is quite scandalous.
He continued the hospitals are the Downe Hospital in Downpatrick and the South Tyrone Hospital in Dungannon. The Down carries out the procedure five days a week and the South Tyrone has been reduced to three days a week. This situation probably accounts for the long waiting lists.
He concluded that if we are serious about ensuring that older people can live independently in their own homes then this situation needs to be rectified. The other major problem with the decision to have only two hospitals carrying out the procedure is distance to travel and the lack of public transport. Our older citizens deserve better than this patients should not have to follow the the surgical team it should be the opposite. The health service is there for the patients benefit and it is unconscionable that older people have to wait so long and travel so far for this treatment.