Doubts over fast track operations

Peter Lord said the pain was "excruciating"

A man lost his eye with an infection following a fast track NHS cataract operation by a private firm, the BBC has learned.

And an investigation showed operations at the Royal Lancaster Hospital had an above average rate of infections.

But the Morecambe Bay NHS Hospitals Trust said despite three people suffering serious infections more than 600 patients had their sight restored.

The firm that carried out operations said infections are now reduced.

Peter Lord, from Kendal, had to have his eye removed a month after surgery, under the Operation Cataract scheme, when he suffered a major eye infection.

It was a bit like a conveyor belt system Peter Lord

"Suddenly I woke up during the night and the pain was absolutely excruciating," he said.

He was on a 12 month waiting list when he got the chance for a fast track NHS procedure carried out in Lancaster by South African company Netcare.

Netcare treated 666 patients in five weeks at Lancaster in a move hailed as a success at the time.

"It was a bit like a conveyor belt system, because there must have been somewhere in the region of about 80 to 100 people in various stages of being processed," said Mr Lord.

Two other people suffered infections within two weeks of the scheme starting and a trust investigation found Netcare may not have been using a particular iodine solution before the operations which is common practice in the UK.

Trust spokesman Dr David Trelford said it had to specify what kind of solution it wanted to be used.

"I think some things as fundamental as that are a matter of expectation rather than being made explicit," he said.

Mr Trelford admitted there was a potential problem with foreign medical teams having different standards to the UK.

We did restore sight to over 600 people in a very short period of time Dr David Telford, Morecambe Bay NHS Trust

A Netcare report seen by the BBC said its overall infection rate was very good but it suggested that the patients' own hygiene may have caused problems.

However, new research by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists published in the July edition of its journal Eye showed Netcare's infection rate was twice the UK average. It was also nearly six times higher than an NHS unit in Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust.

Ophthalmologist Simon Kelly, one of the study's authors, said the college had wider concerns about the use of teams from abroad to cut NHS waiting lists.

Worthwhile operation

"Hospitals who put safety at the centre of the culture of their organisations will have lower incidence of these problems," he said.

The Morecambe Bay trust believes Operation Cataract was worthwhile.

Dr Trelford said: "We need to remember in all this whilst three cases themselves were tragic and personal disasters for those concerned, we did restore sight to over 600 people in a very short period of time.

Netcare said the incidence of this post-operation infection is now lower than the UK average.