Forth Valley eye patients waiting too long for vital appointments, claims sight loss charity

Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans have called on the Scottish Government to tackle the spiralling ophthalmology waiting times stating that people with deteriorating eye conditions just don’t have the time to wait.

Newly released figures from Public Health Scotland show that over 34 per cent of new ophthalmology outpatients in Forth Valley had to wait over 16 weeks. The figures show that out of 1446 people seen, 489 had to wait over 16 weeks, while 588 had to wait over 12 weeks.

Across Scotland 35 per cent of patients had waited over 12 weeks.

Craig Spalding, chief executive of Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans, said: “We are calling on the Scottish Government to put a plan in place to tackle the spiralling ophthalmology waiting lists. These new figures show that thousands of patients with eye conditions are now waiting over 16 weeks. We are greatly concerned about the impact this is having mentally on people with visual impairment and the worsening of existing conditions which will occur if treatment is not received.

“We know the NHS is under a lot of pressure, but treatment within appropriate time scales is essential for many eye conditions. Our community and wellbeing staff have reported many instances where our service users have told them that their sight has worsened due to the delays, with some saying it’s like their life has been placed on hold due to having to give up work.”

Mr Spalding added: “People with deteriorating eye conditions just don’t have the time to wait, if ophthalmology waiting times are not improved, they face the very real prospect of permanent damage. We welcome any movement from the Scottish Government towards tackling this.”

Public Health Scotland release waiting times figures every three months, with its latest figures analysing waiting times between October 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022. To find out more about the figures sourced from Public Health Scotland visit here

For more information, visit www.sightscotland.org.uk or call their helpline on 0800 024 8973.