Waiting lists for children needing eye tests in Cork and Kerry 'shocking'

An ophthalmology appointment can identify ‘lazy eye’ conditions which can lead to serious problems later in life if not caught at a young age. Stock Image.

More than 1,400 children have been waiting longer than a year for eye tests with consultants across Cork and Kerry, new HSE data shows.

Eye specialists have warned that better-off parents are having their children tested and ordering glasses privately, but this practice is beyond the financial reach of many.

An ophthalmology appointment can identify ‘lazy eye’ conditions which can lead to serious problems later in life if not caught at a young age.

The HSE figures show that 989 children have been waiting over a year for these appointments in Cork alone. The total waiting list for children in Cork stands at 2,200, although 23% have been waiting for less than 12 weeks.

In Kerry, some 412 children have been waiting for over a year.

These children are waiting on appointments with consultant ophthalmologists who offer free testing and prescriptions through the HSE to children.

The figures were supplied to FODO Ireland, the representative body for community optometrists, in response to a parliamentary question filed by Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould.

FODO Ireland chairman and Waterford-based optometrist Garvan Mulligan said the situation is now “shocking”.

Optician Garvan Mulligan.

“When you look at Cork at the moment, there are 989 children waiting over a year — that’s 45% of all the children waiting nationally,” he said.

“Missing a child, leaving them out of a system for the year, is serious for their long-term vision, it has long-term implications for what job they can do, what vision they will have in that eye,” he said.

Some 4.5% of children in Ireland are estimated to suffer with ‘lazy eye’ (amblyopia). Rates are higher than in Northern Ireland, Siofra Harrington at the Technological University Dublin found in 2019.

If you look at a child with a lazy eye, if that is not corrected at that critical age between four and eight, they will end up with poor vision in that eye for the rest of their life, no matter what glasses they have,” said Mr Mulligan.

FODO Ireland, which represents eye-care providers working outside of hospitals, called for their skills to be included in the testing programme.

'We could see over 90% of children'

“We are well able to test children’s eyes,” he said. “What’s happening is the HSE won’t pay for us to see children under the age of 12 at the moment. 

"So if a patient comes to see us, they have to pay for the test and pay for their glasses.

“If they are in the HSE scheme, they are entitled to a free eye examination and free glasses. That is much more attractive, so they are waiting to be called.” 

This could work in the same way as GPs currently treat patients, only referring to hospital for certain cases, he said.

“We could see over 90% of the children, we could definitely see them,” he said. “And if we find problems, we can refer back to hospitals.” 

In discussions with the HSE around this, they have raised concerns about the long-term costs to the State, he said.