Health minister John Denham has announced that the government will invest £20m over the next two years to modernise cataract surgery and cut waiting times. The money will allow 50 'modernisation sites' to streamline treatment and ensure a maximum wait of six months from referral to surgery. Treatment and recovery facilities will also be expanded so the number of cataract operations on the NHS can be increased from 170,000 in 1998-99 to 250,000 by 2003. Local services will be asked to put forward proposals for using the money.