Cataract patients are waiting longer for surgery in more than half of NHS authorities than they did three years ago, official figures show.
Thousands of patients in some of the worst-hit areas risk going blind as they have to wait up to six months for the life-changing surgery.
Campaigners blamed the increasing waiting times blamed on a lack of specialist eye surgeons, operating theatres and the pressures of an ageing population.
Out of 154 NHS authorities, 87 reported an increase in waiting times over the last three years, according to official figures released today.
Some 1,992 patients at Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust had to wait six months on average for surgery.
Thousands of patients in some of the worst-hit areas risk going blind as they have to wait up to six months for the life-changing surgery
In 2014, the authority was able to schedule patients for surgery with an average four-month wait.
Redditch and Bromsgrove in Worcestershire reported patients were waiting an average of 129 days for surgery, while NHS Chiltern in Buckinghamshire was keeping people waiting for 122 days.
One in five authorities said patients had to wait more than three months for the surgery.
Last year, the Mail’s Save Our Sight campaign showed how restrictions set by health trusts denied the operations to many until they were near-blind.
An investigation found three-quarters of hospitals would operate only on those who had performed badly in sight tests.
They were following guidance from local clinical commissioning groups, which control budgets and decide who can be treated.
In October health bosses were ordered to end the shameful rationing of cataract operations in a major victory for the Daily Mail.
Hospitals have been told all sufferers must be offered surgery as soon as their quality of life is affected by vision loss.
Crucially, the NHS watchdog’s rules – the first ever national guidelines – state that medics must ‘not restrict access to cataract surgery’ on the basis of sight-test scores.
Patients who have to wait months for surgery risk losing their independence as their sight deteriorates and late operations could result in permanent damage or complications.
Up to half of over-65s have cataracts – 4.5million in England – which occur when the eye’s lens becomes cloudy with age.
The NHS performs only 400,000 corrective operations a year, meaning that, though it is a straightforward and relatively inexpensive procedure, many have to go without.
The number is predicted to rise by 25 per cent in the next decade and by 50 per cent in the next 20 years.
Joyce Robins, of Patient Concern, told the Daily Telegraph: ‘They are going to go blind and it’s a terrifying thought.
‘We are just not training enough people to carry out this surgery. It always seems to come down to a shortage of trained staff.’
Michale Burdon, president of the Royal College of Opthalmologists, told the paper the need for cataract surgery would be ‘much more common’ in the future and slow waiting times will affect patients’ quality of life.
Last year a Mail investigation found three-quarters of hospitals would operate only on those who had performed badly in sight tests.
They were following guidance from local clinical commissioning groups, which control budgets and decide who can be treated.
Many patients said they had been refused surgery despite being almost blind, unable to make out loved ones’ faces and needing a magnifying glass to read.
Others had been forced to give up hobbies such as painting and bird-watching, while some had to use savings to pay for private treatment.
Cataract surgery costs the NHS £750 per eye and takes 30 to 45 minutes, and many patients say it transforms their lives.