Cataracts: Surgery
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cataract operations were carried out (a) by and (b) on behalf of the NHS in England in 2025; how many of those were by (i) NHS providers directly and (ii) private sector providers; and what the comparative costs and productivity rates were.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
In April 2026, for ophthalmology, performance against the standard for 92% of patients to start first treatment within 18 weeks of referral was 73.1%, 5.3% higher than a year earlier.
In most cases, contracts will have to comply with National Health Service unit prices, a set of prices and rules used by providers of NHS care and commissioners to deliver the most efficient, cost-effective care to patients. These unit prices are consistent across independent sector providers and NHS providers. Productivity rate information is not held centrally by the Department. Integrated care boards are the primary bodies responsible for commissioning care from healthcare providers and ensuring value for money is achieved.
The Hospital Admitted Patient Care Activity dataset, published by NHS England, can be used to identify procedure types, including those undertaken as part of cataract operations. Data for the 2025/26 financial year is not yet currently published. This is currently due for publication in September 2026.
The following table shows a count of cataract operations in 2025, both those in an admitted setting, or Finished Consultant Episodes (FCEs), and outpatient settings, split by NHS and non-NHS providers where there was any cataract procedure:
Provider type | Admitted (FCE) | Outpatient | Total |
Independent | 379,023 | 132,310 | 511,333 |
NHS | 278,478 | 4,700 | 283,178 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics.
A FCE is a continuous period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FCEs are typically counted against the year in which they end, which is the approach we have taken here. Figures do not represent the number of different patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the same stay in hospital or in different stays in the same year. Admitted outpatient appointments include first and follow-up attendances and telephone consultations, and excludes did not attends and cancellations. The below procedure codes are those which are considered under cataract operations:
C71: Extracapsular extraction of lens;
C72: Intracapsular extraction of lens;
C73: Incision of capsule of lens;
C74: Other extraction of lens;
C75: Prosthesis of lens; and
C77: Other operations on lens.
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