Cataract figures challenge basis for Swedish healthcare payments

New figures suggest that Swedish government funding intended to reduce healthcare queues may have been paid out on an unreliable basis, SVT reports. The effect of the 2025 investment in cataract surgery appears significantly smaller than official statistics indicate.

The Tidö government allocated funding in 2025 for cataract operations, hip replacements and prolapse surgery. The performance-based portion paid regions for increases in the number of operations compared with the average for 2022 to 2024.

The calculations were based on data from the Patient Register, which healthcare providers report to themselves.

Different figures for cataract surgery

The Patient Register shows that cataract operations increased by 13 percent in 2025 compared with the reference period.

However, the National Cataract Register, a national quality register for cataract surgery with broader coverage, shows an increase of only 3 percent.

“This suggests that government grants were paid out on incorrect grounds,” said Tomas Bro, a member of the Cataract Register’s steering group.

Bro said the larger increase recorded in the Patient Register may be due to improved reporting in 2025, when payments were linked to increased production. The National Board of Health and Welfare points to the same uncertainty.

In its final report, the authority said it could not rule out that the increase was caused by improved reporting rather than an actual rise in the number of operations.

Minister sees no major problem

Reports from the regions also show uncertainty in the data. Region Västernorrland, for example, said its figures should be interpreted “with great caution”.

Healthcare Minister Elisabet Lann did not rule out that the increase could be due to more reporting, but said she did not see this as a major problem.

“The worst that can happen is that a region receives a little more money than it should have received,” Lann said.

At the same time, it remains unclear whether the investment increased the number of operations at all. The National Cataract Register shows an average annual increase of 4 percent over the past decade.

Bro said the discrepancy between the registers demonstrated the importance of reliable figures. Lann agreed.

“This highlights a problem we have had for many years in Swedish healthcare: we have not actually had control. And a lot is happening in this area now,” she said.

“Having control is exactly what we believe we have in the Cataract Register,” Bro replied.

About the National Cataract Register

The National Cataract Register was established in 1992. It records, among other things, waiting times for cataract surgery and patients’ vision before surgery.

The information is submitted by clinics that perform cataract operations. The register has certification level one, the highest level for national quality registers in Sweden.

Comparisons have shown that the National Cataract Register covers more cataract operations than the Patient Register. Sweden has more than 150 national quality registers, which are used to monitor and improve healthcare quality, produce statistics and conduct research in healthcare.