Cataract surgery

My wife has been advised she will need a cataract removed within a year,has anyone any recommendations? We are with ASSSA so presumably could go private....really after the names if clinics that you have dealt with and that are English speaking...

Quiron hospital does this. Also been discussed many times if you just put cataract in the search box you'll see lots of views and recommendations.

I’m not sure if it’s the same in Spain as the U.K. but if you go with the NHS you just get a ‘standard’ lens and May still need glasses afterwards but if you go private you have a choice of different types of lenses for example toric ones to help with astigmatism. I have no first hand experience with this only that I have the start of cataracts, no problem at present but I googled it to see the options. It maybe worth trying a few to see what you can get also what the insurance will pay.

I had both my cataracts removed, I am with Asssa, my experience was faultless, everyone spoke English to me, it was pretty much stress free Friends have also had theirs removed not paying privately, and they have also had no problems.
If you are with Asssa personally that’s the route I would go, at the end of the day, that is what you are paying for, plus probably a lot quicker
It’s wonderful afterwards to see clearly, good luck .

My wife had both done at Torrevieja hospital on the Spanish NHS. This was during the pandemic period and they apologised for the time they took. From initial diagnosis by an optician to completely done was almost exactly one year and that included the mandatory wait of 3 months between the ops.

She has been wearing glasses since she was a very young kiddy (age about 5) and now doesn't need to wear glasses except for reading. One lens is clear glass and the other is 1.5 mag so she's very happy.

Must admit, we've been married over 50 years and am still getting used to seeing her with no glasses.
And the nose indents have gone as well.

Well worth having done. Ophthalmologist at the hospital said they are back to 5 months waiting for one to be done so you'd be quicker going privately if it covers you. But certainly couldn't fault the hospital service.

She was given prescriptions for most of the eye drops required before and after the ops but some other drops and wipes aren't on prescription and cost a further 75 euro.

Windy miller wrote:I had both my cataracts removed, I am with Asssa, my experience was faultless, everyone spoke English to me, it was pretty much stress free Friends have also had theirs removed not paying privately, and they have also had no problems.
If you are with Asssa personally that’s the route I would go, at the end of the day, that is what you are paying for, plus probably a lot quicker
It’s wonderful afterwards to see clearly, good luck .

Hola Windy! Can I ask you if ASSSA covered the whole procedure or did you have to contribute some of the costs?

I had my cataracts done in Torrevieja hospital through my UK Sip card, was told I needed them done in April 2021 and did the first one in September 2021 and the second in February 2022, however my mum in the uk was told she needed her cataracts done in 2020 and they were finally done this year ! The results are amazing, no glasses after 20 years, for the first few weeks everything is very bright and colourful, I had to wear dark glasses to watch TV !

I know quite a few who have had Spanish NHS cataract ops and they are more than happy with their standard lenses, my dad couldn't believe how wonderfully he could see, just wears glasses for reading and was told by the hospital to buy them from a Chinese shop

Des wrote:I’m not sure if it’s the same in Spain as the U.K. but if you go with the NHS you just get a ‘standard’ lens and May still need glasses afterwards but if you go private you have a choice of different types of lenses for example toric ones to help with astigmatism. I have no first hand experience with this only that I have the start of cataracts, no problem at present but I googled it to see the options. It maybe worth trying a few to see what you can get also what the insurance will pay.