4 days ago
No NHS cataract op after six years … in England I'd have waited weeks
W hen Averil Walker's grandson was born she could not see his face. She had to feel his little features with her fingers.
For years, Walker, 63, from the Borders had been waiting for surgery to remove the cataracts clouding her eyes. Her world had faded behind a yellowish haze, forcing her to give up snowboarding, driving and the job she loved.
'I couldn't see shapes, I couldn't see colours,' she said. 'I sat and cried numerous times. Fortunately, I do have good friends and I could rely on them, but I also did not want to burden them with my woes.'
Walker, who lives on the Southern Upland Way, said that from the day her cataracts were detected in 2017, more than six years passed and no appointment letter arrived.
