High patient acceptance of immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS) as part of a one-stop see-and-treat pathway within an innovative NHS cataract unit

Background: Constituting ~0.5% of all NHS cataract operations, national provision of immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS) is limited. Combining offering ISBCS within a novel one-stop see-and-treat (S&T) cataract pathway would offer patients the opportunity for two cataract operations in a single hospital visit. Patient acceptance of ISBCS amongst urban populations has been investigated. However, little is understood about ISBCS acceptance rurally.

Methods: Retrospective observational study at the Nightingale Hospital, Exeter investigating patient acceptance of ISBCS within S&T; following the implementation of a S&T cataract pathway entailing a pre-operative patient-clinician telephone consultation and subsequently scheduled single date of assessment and surgery. Patient acceptance and factors potentially influencing decisions were investigated.

Results: 200 patient telephone consultations between 22nd August 2023 and 9th January 2024 were evaluated. 198 (99%) patients referred were suitable for S&T cataract surgery, of whom 109 (54.5%) were deemed eligible for offering ISBCS S&T cataract surgery. Of the eligible participants, 78 (71.56%) favoured ISBCS. No significant differences in age, sex, distance from hospital or refractive data were identified between ISBCS accepting and declining participants.

Conclusions: Our results illustrate a high patient acceptance rate (71.56%) of ISBCS within our population in contrast with published national rates. Offering ISBCS within a S&T model would allow patients to benefit from having both cataracts assessed and treated within a single hospital visit.