Eur J Ophthalmol ( 2010 ; : 4 ) 684 - 686 20 © 2010 Wichtig Editore - 1120-6721 684 ORIGINAL ARTICLE INTRODUCTION Cataract surgery is the most common ophthalmic proce- dure performed in the world. The number of patients need- ing cataract surgery is increasing as the life expectancy is increasing in the world and patients are needing cataract surgery earlier and earlier. It has been estimated by the World health Organization (WHO) that the global magni- tude of blindness (corrected vision <0.05) is 50 million and about 50% of this is from cataract, accounting for the so- called cataract backlog (World Health Organization, Vision 2020: The Right to Sight, Geneva, WHO; www.iapb.org). As part of Vision 2020, WHO aims to increase the volume of cataract surgery around the world to 32 million per year by 2020 to reduce the backlog, which will have increased by that time (1). We carried out a national postal questionnaire to evaluate the cataract practices in the United Kingdom to see if de- partments were making optimum use of resources. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cataract surgery questionnaire was designed and sent to all hospitals providing ophthalmology services in the United Kingdom on the mailing list of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. The questionnaire included ques- tions about the consultant teams and cataract operations in hospitals undertaking cataract surgery; the number of cases performed; and the postoperative review protocol. This was mailed to 248 hospitals in England, Wales, Scot- land, and Northern Ireland. Cataract surgery in the United Kingdom: a postal survey Carpi A. Olali, Anita Priya, Mohit Gupta, Sohail Ahmed Department of Ophthalmology, Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, Lincolnshire - United Kingdom PURPOSE. A postal questionnaire study to evaluate the current practice of cataract surgery delivery in the United Kingdom including strategies for postoperative review was performed. METHODS. A cataract questionnaire was sent to all hospital departments delivering ophthalmic ser- vices in the United Kingdom based on a list from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. It included questions about the staffing level, number of cases operated on per list, and the different strategies employed postoperatively. The results were statistically analyzed. RESULTS. A total of 248 questionnaires were sent and 106 (43%) replies were received. The mean num- ber of consultant teams was 11 (2–20). The average number of cases per list was 6–7 (range 4–9). In 65 hospitals, all patients are reviewed postoperatively in the hospital and some consultant teams review patients postoperatively in 18 hospitals. In 15 hospitals, patients were seen by the community opti- cian. Most hospitals review their patients postoperatively within the first 3 weeks with more hospitals seeing them at 2–3 weeks. A wide variety of health professionals review the postoperative cases and they include doctors, nurses, and opticians (in house and community). CONCLUSIONS. There are varied practices for cataract surgery in the United Kingdom including the num- ber of cases on the list and postoperative review protocols. There is room for better service organiza- tion in some hospitals in terms of patient flow and better use of medical staff time to improve output. (Eur J Ophthalmol 2010; 20: 684-6) KEY WORDS. Cataract backlog, Eye service, Multidisciplinary, Performance, Theatre usage, United Kingdom Accepted: December 2, 2009 EJO_D_09_570_olali.indd 684 21-06-2010 16:13:45