Sir,

Day care surgery has been proven to be economical and a more patient friendly option in the developed world.1 Even with its benefits, many patients do not opt for day care services. Using the cataract surgery register of our hospital, we identified those patients who were treated as in-patients and analysed the reasons for not treating them on day care basis. The reasons for not performing day care cataract surgery in these patients were analysed. A total of 1160 patients were posted for cataract surgery between January and June 2006, of which 260 patients (22.4%) were operated as in-patients. Many poor patients refused day care (n=133; 51.1%) and opted for inpatient surgery citing economic reasons, as existing government policy provided free surgery only on in-patient admission. Eighteen (6.9%) refused day care because their medical insurance benefit required inpatient hospital stay. Seven (2.6%) had the other eye operated after admission few years back and were more comfortable with the inpatient care. Twelve (4.6%) wanted admission because they were outstation patients.

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