Summary

Eye health in Australia: a hospital perspective is the first in a series of national reports providing an overview of eye health in Australia. This report contains hospital data and some related trends data for the period 2001–02 to 2005–06. Some of the main findings in this report are given below.

Key findings

  • Eye problems accounted for about 1 in 30 hospitalisations (nearly 250,000) in 2005–06.
  • Around 70% of these hospitalisations were for lens procedures (mostly cataract removal), and most of these were same-day procedures.
  • The rate of hospitalisations for eye problems rose marginally over the period 2001–02 to 2005–06.
  • The public hospitals total cost for diseases and disorders of the eye in 2005–06 was nearly $233 million. A comparable cost for private hospitals could not be calculated, but is estimated to be about $220 million.
  • The rate of hospitalisations for eye problems among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was similar to the total Australian population. However, hospitalisation rates for cataract were lower among Indigenous Australians, whereas eye-related injuries were higher.
  • The median waiting time for ophthalmology elective surgery in the public hospital system was 69 days, the longest of any speciality. The median waiting time increased, on average, by 3 days per year between 2000–01 and 2005–06. Eye health in Australia: a hospital perspective is the first in a series of national reports providing an overview of eye health in Australia.