41,600 ON EYE WAITING LIST
»»Experts brand vital care delays as ‘unacceptable’ »»€30m saved if optometrists go to communities
TENS of thousands of people are waiting for vital eye care appointments – which optometrists have branded “unacceptable”.
And they reckon €30million could be saved if services were moved from hospitals to the community.
Some 41,600 patients were on the outpatient eye care waiting list at the end of last year, the Association of Optometrists Ireland revealed – an increase of 2,000 from 2017.
And 10,500 of these people have been waiting for more than 18 months for vital health visits, while a huge 16,200 have been delayed for more than a year.
Ireland’s eye care services need to be reformed to meet the ever growing demands of an expanding and aging population, AOI chief Sean Mccrave believes.
He said: “The mismatch between demand and availability remains enormous.
“AOI welcomes the additional theatre space at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear and Nenagh Hospitals during 2018, but these will not address this scale of demand and delays.
“We have a growing aged population year on year.”
To solve the problem, optometrists are calling for “radical reform” of eye care services in the country, based on community care rather than an “unusual overreliance” on hospital ophthalmology departments.
AOI’S new president Patricia Dunphy said badly needed improvements for patients can be achieved by changing Ireland’s model of eye care.
She added: “There are many further areas where optometry can help with delivering care, such as red eye management, glaucoma and AMD.
“Hospital waiting lists can be reduced by directing some of these patients to optometrists.
“AOI has estimated that in excess of €30million could be saved across services while at the same time delivering a more accessible and clinically effective service.
“That is because it is 50% less expensive to provide routine examinations, monitoring and care in the community than in hospital.
“Swifter access to care means earlier detection which is associated with better outcomes for patients.”