The College provided evidence to the Public Accounts Committee’s inquiry on Reducing NHS waiting times for elective care and College President Professor Ben Burton has commented on the committee’s report, which was published today. He said:
“Today’s report strengthens what clinicians have been warning for years: without investment in specialist capacity, digital infrastructure and clinically led prioritisation, patients will continue to face unsafe delays.
“In our inquiry response we highlighted the huge improvements that ophthalmology teams have made through targeted interventions, such as the One Devon Elective Pilot and the use of a single point of access model. We need national support from NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to roll initiatives like this out nationally.
“We have long been campaigning for improvements in digital infrastructure – including calling for the standardisation of electronic health records in eye care – so we welcome the committee’s acknowledgment of the impact on patient experience of poor IT connectivity.
“It is also good to see recognition that specialist care is significantly under resourced. Many ophthalmology units across England lack sufficient clinic and theatre capacity and there are not enough ophthalmologists to meet ever-growing patient need. This must be urgently addressed in the government’s upcoming 10 Year Workforce Plan, including through more ophthalmology training places.
“We would have liked the committee to stress the need to better prioritise follow-up appointments. Ophthalmology is the specialty with the most follow-up waits and these appointments are crucial for managing long-term, chronic, sight-threatening eye diseases like complex glaucoma and wet age-related macular degeneration. Instead, we have seen a rapid and uncontrolled expansion of NHS cataract surgery delivered by independent sector providers.
“Patients deserve eye care that prevents avoidable sight loss and is delivered safely, consistently and on time.”