Study highlights Rb risks

New figures released by the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT) has showed babies and young children are waiting more than three times longer than recommended to be diagnosed with retinoblastoma (Rb).

In 2016 the average time from a child’s first visit to a healthcare professional to being seen at a specialist centre was seven weeks. NICE guidelines state a child should be referred within two weeks but 64% waited longer than this, with 32% waiting more than two months.

CHECT said between 2012 and 2016, 85% of optometrists who examined children with Rb made an urgent referral. CHECT chief executive Patrick Tonks said: ‘We still have parents telling us staff at those stores that choose not to examine babies and young children, have sent parents away with misleading or no information about where to seek help and the need for an urgent examination, even though a child’s life could be at risk.’