By Eleanor Southwood, Director of Impact and External Affairs
It’s no secret that eye health care is woefully underfunded, and Hospital Eye Services fail to meet demand. Waiting lists for hospital eye care have been growing for over a decade and significantly worsened by Covid. Of the estimated 11 million patients waiting for follow-up appointments in England, ophthalmology is the speciality with the highest number.
Given that most vision loss is preventable and treatable – as much as 90% if you include refractive errors. These numbers translate to thousands of people being put at risk of unnecessarily losing sight. So, how do we cut waiting times and ensure better eye health?
Four system changes are needed
At Fight for Sight, we’re committed to improving the evidence base for what works in improving eye health care.
We are pleased to have been part of a funding coalition behind the recent report completed by PA Consulting, which makes a clear economic case for investing in primary eye care.
The report - Key Interventions to Transform Eye Care & Eye Health - identifies £98 million worth of savings by making four system-wide changes:
1. A national roll-out of Community Urgent Eye Services
2. A national roll-out of the Integrated Glaucoma Pathway
3. A national roll-out of the Integrated Cataract Pathway – primary care optometrists confirm patient eligibility for surgery
4. Transforming the potential of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)
Implementing all four system-wide changes could release nearly 2m appointments per year across hospital eye services, A&E and GPs. That’s the equivalent of 9,600 appointments per year for each Acute Trust in England.
More details on the benefits of each can be found in the report.
Discover the evidence for a system-wide approach to eye care
Why we need a system-wide approach
There is currently no consistent patient pathway for people diagnosed with vision loss. Yet, at that moment, people face two urgent, profound questions. Can this be stopped? How do I live my life?
A vision loss diagnosis can lead to mental distress. In our report, Outside, we found an almost universal experience of anxiety in people who are blind and vision impaired. Prolonged waiting times, uncertainty and inconsistent care are only likely to exacerbate this.
As funders, we hear from experts who have experience with the devastating clinical and emotional consequences of a system unfit for purpose.
Bringing eye care services closer to patients
The NHS ten-year plan promises to “extend the range of convenient local services, creating genuinely integrated teams of GPs, community health and social care staff.”
The four system changes identified in this report would bring significant economic and patient benefit.
NHS services delivered in High Street optometry offer over £1.5bn of value from correcting sight in children and young people and nearly half a billion in adults.
In addition, this could lead to the early detection of glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in older people.
Discover how the research we're funding is leading to a deeper understanding of glaucoma.
Increasing capacity in community settings is vital. Demand for Hospital Eye Services is growing faster than the ophthalmology workforce.
Only 24% of eye units believe they have enough consultants to meet current demand. Despite this, the last decade has seen funding for primary care reduce in proportion to the acute sector.
This report provides much-needed evidence for interventions that could significantly impact patients. Our support for this work is based on our mission to Save Sight. Change Lives.
Funding research that improves the understanding, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of vision loss.
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