PEOPLE with eye cataracts should get speedier treatment through a £242,000 cash boost to hospitals in North Yorkshire and south Durham.
The funding will streamline services at the Friarage at Northallerton, the Friary in Richmond, the Richardson in Barnard Castle, Darlington Memorial Hospital and Bishop Auckland General, as well as Thirsk Health Centre, by cutting waiting times and reducing the number of visits patients have to make.
Opticians will be able to refer people directly to a hospital consultant instead of first sending them to their GP. Patients will be assessed at their first appointment and will be able to agree a date for surgery there and then.
Waiting times for cataract surgery will be reduced even further by increasing the number of operations, investing in new equipment and enabling more patients to go home on the day they have surgery instead of staying in overnight.
The funding, which is going to the South Durham Health Care NHS Trust and Northallerton Health Services NHS Trust, is part of a £20m Government investment in cataract services across the country.
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