MOBILE cataract surgeries run by a team of South Africans will begin treating hundreds of East Lancashire patients in the next two months.

Around 1,400 patients across Lancashire and Cumbria will be treated every year for the next five years to slash waiting lists.

In the two counties there are currently 3,285 people on waiting lists of three months or less, with 1,382 patients on waiting lists between three and six months.

The South African team from Netcare recently finished a successful £2million scheme giving hip and knee replacement operations to 338 people in Cumbria and Lancashire - 60 of them from East Lancashire. The mobile surgeries will complement funding announced last August, when hospitals in East Lancashire were given £930,000 to bring down waiting times to as little as six weeks.

The money is being used for a new opthalmology consultant, equipment and other ways to cut waiting times, such as using the private sector, are being investigated.

The unit's first visit to East Lancashire will be to Rossendale Hospital on April 21 and 22 when operations on around 45 patients from across East Lancashire will be carried out. Further visits to Rossendale will take place approximately every 12 weeks to provide treatment for people from across the area.

The targeted areas have among the longest waiting times for cataract removal in the country.

East Lancashire has a large older population which puts a high demand on the cataract service. But the longer surgery is left, the more the condition deteriorates, with the risk of blindness or poor sight curtailing independence, dignity and quality of life.

Patients are free to go home usually within an hour of leaving the operating theatre.

Patrick Collister, chief officer of Age Concern Hyndburn, said he thought the initiative was great news for the area's elderly.

He said: "We would support any initiative which enables older people to have prompt access to the medical treatment which they need. Netcare have already undertaken similar initiatives and have a proven track record of quality health care."

David Peat, chief executive for Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Primary Care Trust, said: "This is a relatively simple procedure which can make a huge difference to the quality of patients lives."