{"id":42368,"date":"2023-03-22T14:21:06","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T14:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mylocaloptician.co.uk\/?p=22153"},"modified":"2023-03-22T14:21:06","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T14:21:06","slug":"waiting-lists-in-nhs-services-leading-to-sight-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bedotdev.com\/mylocaloptician\/waiting-lists-in-nhs-services-leading-to-sight-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Waiting Lists in NHS services leading to sight loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

NHS patient backlogs are leading to life-changing sight loss
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Association of Optometrists launches new campaign calling on the Government to prevent a health emergency by ensuring more care is commissioned in community optometry\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Association of Optometrists (AOP) is launching a new national campaign following a Freedom of Information request which reveals patients have lost their sight due to NHS backlogs.<\/p>\n

Clinicians have reported more than 200 cases of people losing their vision due to treatment delays since 2019, with hundreds more unreported cases suspected.<\/p>\n

The AOP is calling on the Government to commit to a national eye health strategy that enables more patients to access the care they need quickly and locally.<\/p>\n

Currently 628,502 people are awaiting ophthalmology appointments in England alone \u2013 the second largest NHS backlog, equating to one in every 11 patients on an NHS waiting list. Furthermore, 27,260 of those have been waiting a year or more.<\/p>\n

In response to the Freedom of Information NHS England revealed that there have been 551 reports to the National Reporting and Incident system in relation to sight loss due to delayed appointments since 2019. Of those reports, 99 incidents involved \u201csevere harm\u201d and 120 incidents caused \u201cmoderate harm\u201d.<\/p>\n

One incident report described a patient with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) who lost vision in their left eye after their injection treatment was delayed. The patient was meant to have monthly injections but presented at clinic after three months had passed without an appointment.<\/p>\n

The findings reinforce fears expressed by members of the AOP, with nearly half (43%) raising serious concerns over the number of patients they are seeing who could lose sight unnecessarily as a result long NHS waiting lists and cancelled appointments.<\/p>\n

An additional poll of 498 Macular Society members reveals:<\/p>\n