Elderly Sunshine Coast residents are waiting too long for cataract surgery, Member for Maroochydore Fiona Simpson said today.
Ms Simpson is calling on the Health Minister to provide more funding for ophthalmology surgery so that patients in need can get this life-changing treatment sooner.
“It’s not acceptable for elderly people to be waiting a year and longer for this urgently needed surgery,” Ms Simpson said.
“I’ve been contacted about the unacceptable waiting times by a 71 year old lady who is struggling to care for her sick husband and an 80 year old man wrote to the local paper last week saying that he has been
waiting for three years for surgery.
“I’m advised that the recommended waiting time for non-urgent surgery is 365 days, but the timeframe is blowing out even worse than that.
How many patients are waiting years for treatment?
“I am lobbying the Minister for more resources to help fix this as soon as possible,” Ms Simpson said.
Ms Simpson said the Health Minister was being evasive in his response to a Question she asked in Parliament about the waiting times for eye surgery.
“I recently asked the Minister how many patients are waiting longer than the clinically recommended times for eye surgery on the Sunshine Coast and what is being done to shorten the wait times,” Ms Simpson said.
“Rather than giving me a specific answer, the Minister Cameron Dick just referred me to the Hospital Performance website, annual reports and budget papers.
“If this Minister can’t even give me a straight answer to a simple question, how can he be trusted to run Queensland Health?”
“I’ve written to the Minister to demand answers for my constituents and more funding so that Coast residents can get the timely treatment they need.”
