Eyecare postcode lottery must end, says ABDO

Scotland leading where rest of UK must follow, says ABDO President

Governments in Wales, England, and Northern Ireland need to act now on the eyecare postcode lottery and have the same routine and emergency eye health care for people across the UK, ABDO states today.

ABDO is calling for action on the 21st anniversary of the launch of Vision 2020, a World Health Organisation global initiative to eliminate the cause of preventable and treatable blindness as a public health issue by the year 2020.

The Scottish government prioritised eye health in 2006 and since then, has been seen to have “revolutionised” care to enable prevention and early intervention in the fight to eliminate avoidable blindness.

ABDO president, Clive Marchant, said: “On the anniversary of the Vision 2020 initiative, it is disappointing that England, Wales and Northern Ireland are failing to follow Scotland and offer a universally NHS funded comprehensive service to catch treatable eye conditions at an early stage. Action now could not only save people’s sight but also save the NHS and Social Care significant amounts of money.”

He continued: “We are calling for further investment in General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) so it – and our optical workforce – can be used to their full potential to prevent avoidable sight loss throughout the rest of the UK. Getting the right eyecare at the right time from the right clinician is important from the cradle to the grave.

“We would like to see everyone have access to NHS-funded regular eye examinations from pre-school onwards to give everyone the best start in life. The risk of eye disease grows as you get older, and it is vital for eye disease and the need for spectacles to be detected as early as possible which can only be done by regular eye health checks. Scotland is leading the way here.”

According to Optometry Scotland, attendance at A&E costs the NHS more to deliver eyecare than it does if it is delivered locally by optical practices.

If a national eyecare service, like Scotland has, was rolled out across the UK it could save millions for the NHS and prevent avoidable sight loss in the UK, says the organisation.