49,000 waiting for eye-care procedures at Irish hospitals

Optometry Ireland has said its members could be utilised to deal with the backlog. File picture: iStock

Some 49,000 people are on waiting lists for eye-care treatments in Irish hospitals, according to new figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF)

Up to August, 41,600 people were on the outpatient eye-care waiting list. The remaining 7,800 people were awaiting inpatient eye procedures.

Among those waiting for outpatient procedures, almost 19,000 had been waiting for more than a year. 

14,800 people had been waiting lists for more than 18 months

Optometry Ireland, formerly the Association of Optometrists Ireland (AOI) has said the numbers on the lists are “unacceptably high.”

"Citizens’ eye health is being compromised due to ongoing and unacceptable delays,” said Optometry Ireland President, John Weldon.

Mr Weldon said optometrists could help ease this backlog, given many of the resources needed to increase capacity in eye care are already in place in optometrist practices around the country.

"There are 300 practices and 700 practitioners all across the country who are highly trained, have state-of-the-art equipment, and have the capacity to provide more services.

“We encourage that a greater role for optometrists be given more discussion by the Department of Health and HSE," he said. 

Mr Weldon said optometrists in Ireland "are not engaged with and utilised" as much as they are in other European Union countries.

"It is less costly for people to have their routine needs managed at their optometrist than hospital ophthalmology service."

Speaking this afternoon, Mr Weldon said the Sligo Cataract Scheme in the North West, in which optometrists played an increased role, had resulted in greatly reduced waiting times for eye-care procedures in that region.

"With approval from the HSE, optometrists can also carry out greater prescribing to help with the care of chronic eye conditions in the community.

"The reform that we propose makes sense on every level. It can reduce waiting times, is cost-effective, makes services more accessible to patients and better uses a resource that is already in place,” he said.

In a statement, Optometry Ireland welcomed ongoing developments in children’s eye care which has seen optometrists take charge of routine State eye examinations and care for children over the age of eight. 

The organisation said this initiative had already commenced in a number of regions and called for "a timeline and urgent roll-out" of the plan to all other regions of the country.