Cataract surgery is cost effective and should not be rationed, says NICE

New evidence that cataract surgery is cost effective will make it harder for service commissioners in England to ration treatment, experts have told The BMJ.

Draft guidelines1 from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for managing cataracts in adults contain new economic modelling that shows that cataract surgery for first or second eye is cost effective compared with no or delayed surgery.

The guidelines, which are out to consultation and will be published in October 2017, also make clear that restricting access to cataract surgery on the basis of visual acuity thresholds is inappropriate.

Experts said that the …