Bill Harvey: Glory box

As Professor Philip Bloom says in the newly published State of the UK’s Eye Health 2022 Report from Specsavers: ‘We have long needed more patients to be seen in community optometry practices. The rationale for lockdown was to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. Well, our hospital eye services are overwhelmed!’

This welcome, though somewhat depressing, report was launched last week during a live online session chaired by the ‘just one thing’ media doctor Michael Mosley. In the post-pandemic landscape, there is a severe backlog of patients awaiting eye assessment and treatment; a number so large that waiting times are at a point where significant sight loss is more than likely for many patients. The report underlined the much anticipated and much wished for alignment of optometry, ophthalmology and other allied eye care professions in addressing the problem. The evolution of independent prescribing skills, improved accessibility to primary care eye clinics, and familiarity with modern technologies makes the role of eye care professionals key in returning the nations’ eye health to pre-pandemic levels.