View from the BCLA: Dry eye rethink needed

There has been understandable consternation following the release of guidance for CCGs outlining conditions for which over the counter items should not routinely be prescribed in primary care.

It addresses a wide range of conditions, including dry eye disease, for which the document states; ‘a prescription for treatment of dry or sore eyes should not routinely be offered in primary care as the condition is appropriate for self-care’.

While we concur with the principle of NHS England trying to save money on non-essential items, there is a concern that no exceptions are allowed for dry eye treatment.

Dry eye covers a very wide range of severity and, in the most extreme cases, can cause blindness. There is a link between dry eye and depression and in terms of quality adjusted life years, severe dry eye is on a par with angina and dialysis. To claim, therefore, that dry eye treatment is ‘non-essential’ is potentially a crippling blow for some long-suffering patients.