How soon a patient receives an operation at public hospitals appears to depend on the luck of the draw.
A cataract patient may wait anything from three to 37 months, according to hospital figures obtained by the South China Morning Post.
The problem, say many doctors and patients' rights representatives, is caused by the uneven distribution of resources among hospitals. The waiting time for cataract operations - one of the most common procedures - is used as a key indicator of health care resources in different districts.
Critics say the Hospital Authority is failing to address a chronic problem of unfair allocation of resources. This means patients are penalised if they live in areas where public hospitals have poor resources.
'For high-volume operations such as cataracts or joint replacements, putting all patients on one list would be fairer to all,' Patients' Rights Association spokesman Tim Pang Hung-cheong said.
The association criticises the authority for allowing big differences in waiting times for medical services to exist at public hospitals.
