Eye patients pay for private treatment – or risk going blind in NHS backlog

Of those paying to go private, many needed treatment for simple conditions that can cause sight loss if left untreated.

‘Irreversible sight loss’

In a letter to Dame Leadsom, Adam Sampson, the chief executive of the AOP, said that high street optometrists should be used more widely across the NHS for “cataract surgery, help for glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration”.

Mr Sampson said: “With the expansion of primary eye care services, more patients will have a better chance of receiving improved treatment, faster and locally, which could prevent avoidable irreversible sight loss.”

He added: “The latest figures paint a very stark picture. More people than ever are waiting longer than ever for sight-saving treatment.

“Patients are being forced to spend their savings on private treatment to avoid losing their sight – not to mention the many where paying for private care is simply not an option.”

Marsha de Cordova MP, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on eye health and vision impairment, said the NHS in England “is the only country in the UK without an eye health strategy” despite a “national eye care recovery programme”.

“A national approach will remove the postcode lottery of care and reduce the risk of patients getting stuck on hospital waiting lists, and in turn prevent the avoidable and irreversible sight loss we’re seeing today.”