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Press Release: A national partnership of eye care organisations is calling for more joined up care through a national eye care strategy to address the many patients in England who could lose their sight due to delays in diagnosis and follow-up care after referral.1,2,3
Despite some progress in reducing NHS backlogs in ophthalmology, which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is evidence to suggest that many patients could be losing their vision due to these ongoing delays in diagnosis and follow-up care.1,2,3
Now, The Eyes Have It partnership – a leading partnership of organisations that campaigns to improve the lives of patients with eye conditions – is calling on the newly appointed National Clinical Director (NCD) for Eye Care, Louisa Wickham, to implement a national strategy to address the issues.
Ms Wickham, Medical Director of Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, took up her position as NCD, a newly created role, earlier this month.
Speaking on behalf of The Eyes Have It partnership, Stephen Scowcroft, Macular Society Director of Services said: “We believe a clinically-led national eye care strategy that prioritises maximising capacity in NHS eye care services is needed to better support people experiencing sight loss. Taking action to maximise capacity in eye care services is vital for ensuring patients are seen in the right place and at the right time, whilst also supporting the ophthalmology and optometry workforce.
The appointment of the new National Clinical Director is a really positive step forward, that gives the eye care community a new opportunity to better support patients and provide them with the practical and emotional support they need.”
On 7 June 2022, the Eyes Have It partnership convened a roundtable discussion with leading clinicians, policymakers, and patient organisations. As well as the issues around patient support after referral, participants also discussed inconsistent commissioning processes from primary to secondary care, workforce issues where there is a mismatch between supply and demand, a lack of national, standardised data preventing effective national planning and a deficiency in the support and funding for clinical eye research.
The Eyes Have It partnership is calling for support from all stakeholders in eye care as part of its drive to improve the lives of people with sight loss. To this end, it has launched a pledge wall.
To pledge your support please click here: https://eyeshaveit.co.uk/doc/pledge.
[1] B. Foot & C. MacEwen, Surveillance of Sight Loss due to delay in ophthalmic treatment or review: frequency, cause and outcome, Eye (May 2017); https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2017.1
[2] Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch, Lack of Timely Monitoring of Patients with Glaucoma: Healthcare Safety Investigation I2019/001 (January 2020); https://hsib-kqcco125-media.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/documents/hsib_report_lack_timely_
monitoring_patients_glaucoma.pdf
[3] Specsavers, The State of the UK’s Eye Health 2021 (February 2022); https://content.specsavers.com/state-of-the-nation/FINAL_Digital_The+state+of+the+UK%E2%80%99s+Eye+Health+2021.pdf
Prevent Blindness is declaring February as Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and Low Vision Month in an effort to provide education and various expert-approved resources to the public and professionals. This year’s AMD and Low Vision Month is generously supported by Gold Sponsor EyePoint, Inc.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, AMD is the most common cause of severe loss of eyesight among people 50 and older. And, about 4 million Americans live with low vision, which is defined as chronic visual impairment that cannot be corrected with glasses, contact lenses or medical treatments.
AMD affects the central part of the retina called the “macula.” When AMD damages the macula, the center part of a person’s vision may become blurred or wavy, and a blind spot may develop. Early detection and treatment of AMD is key to helping to prevent significant vision loss.
Two types of AMD include:
“As our population ages, the number of individuals impacted by AMD continues to grow. Many will face difficulties doing the things we sometimes take for granted, such as reading, seeing faces, and driving,” said Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. “Our robust collection of resources on AMD and low vision are intentionally created to help minimize vision loss and maintain independence for those impacted by AMD while providing effective tools to the public and providers on ways to save sight.”
As part of AMD and Low Vision Month, Prevent Blindness offers the free AMD GuideMe app. This resource provides a customized overview of AMD along with a tailored resource list and suggested steps to help save sight from the eye disease specific to the individual using the GuideMe app. Prevent Blindness offers additional educational resources including fact sheets and shareable social media graphics in English and Spanish, and dedicated webpages.
New this year, as part of the Prevent Blindness ASPECT Patient Engagement Program Member Spotlight Series, graduate Laurie S., shares her experience with AMD, including her family history with the eye disease, how it impacts her daily activities including the ability to read music, and the importance of support groups “Age-related Macular Degeneration: Laurie’s Story.”
Videos in the Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health Series include:
The Prevent Blindness “Living Well With Low Vision” program provides useful information to those with low vision, their care partners and healthcare professionals. Content includes self-help guides, resources for vision loss and mental wellness, information on clinical trials, and much more. Living Well With Low Vision is supported by grants from Amgen and Genentech.
For more information on AMD, please visit PreventBlindness.org/amd. For information on geographic atrophy, please visit PreventBlindness.org/geographic-atrophy.
And, for more information on Living Well With Low Vision, or other general eye health information, please visit lowvision.PreventBlindness.org.
For a listing of organizations and services that provide financial assistance for vision care in English or Spanish, please visit https://preventblindness.org/vision-care-financial-assistance-information.
