Q: How do older people make decisions about cataract surgery?

The British government has proposed speeding up the rate of cataract operations by giving surgeons in training their own operating lists. But operations done by junior doctors carry with them a greater risk of complications. In this study, based in Nottingham, researchers examined the attitudes of 146 patients aged between 60 and 84. They asked them to rank 11 different “cataract surgery packages”, each of which had a different combination of waiting time, grade of surgeon and risk of complications. Some respondents were particularly worried about the risks, while others were more worried about the waiting times. The authors suggest that patients should be given the option of having their operation done more quickly by a junior doctor: “We recognise that this is a radical proposal, but it is one that is consistent with being open …