Cataract surgery controversy

In May 2014, the trust drew up a £320,000 contract with Vanguard Healthcare Solutions to bring down the list of 400 patients waiting for cataract surgery. The company agreed to perform 20 cataract operations per day in a mobile theatre. It in turn sub-contracted to The Practice PLC, to provide two surgeons. They in turn sub-contracted to Kestrel Ophthalmics for the provision of a phacoemulsification machine, the hand pieces needed for surgery and the operating fluids and eye drops. 62 patients had surgery and only 25 had a "normal recovery", which is a complication rate ten times greater than would normally be expected. Operations took place on 2, 3 and 4 May. On 6 and 7 May, patients came to the Trust's casualty department with severe corneal decompensation and the performance of the contract was stopped on 9 May.

A report was produced in October 2014, which the trust claimed it wanted to publish but was advised not to do so for fear that it would be defamatory and open the hospital up to legal action. It was however leaked to The Guardian.^[9] Staff and patients were told that "a number of factors" led to an "unusually high level of complications".^[10] The report was eventually released on 16 October.^[11] It was criticised by the son of one of the patients who demanded that an independent investigation should examine what risk assessments the hospital carried out before outsourcing the work, a topic not covered in the report.^[12]