Eye health at risk, RCO warns

In an interview with the BBC, Professor Carrie MacEwen, the president of The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCO), cautioned that significant numbers of patients were suffering irreversible sight loss each year in England due to overstretched and under-resourced services.

Overall, hospital appointments have increased in the UK, with over 100 million outpatient appointments made in England alone during 2013-14. Statistics show 10 per cent of this figure were eye-care related.

While progressions in research have meant common untreatable eye conditions such as age-related macular degeneration are now treatable, this has resulted in increased demand on eye clinics.

Data shows there has been an increase of up to 30 per cent in the number of eye clinic attendances over the last five years. MacEwen also noted that a key part of the problem was a result of document management. She outlined that improved data collection would identify patients which might otherwise fall through the cracks and enable those managing service provision to plan more effectively.

The RCO is carrying out a national study to examine where hospital-initiated delays for follow-up eye appointments have caused harm to patients. Preliminary results from the report indicate that across the UK at least 20 patients per month suffer severe visual sight loss as a result of such delays.

Recommendations include creating guidelines to optimise efficient care; the use of expanded skills and roles of other specialist eye staff such as ophthalmic nurses, optometrists and orthoptists; and increasing networks between primary and secondary care.

MacEwen said: “Ophthalmologists want what is best for their patients and whilst many hospitals are taking positive action to deal with these delays, the response to the problem is variable across Britain.

“These recommendations may be seen as difficult, as often there are restricted resources and limited time for clinicians to work with those across the whole network of care, community and commissioners to develop strategies which can meet the ever increasing number of patients coming through clinics.

“If these solutions are not urgently forthcoming, many hundreds more will needlessly experience sight loss.”