Question reference: S5W-33690
- Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 3 December 2020
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 7 January 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent reported increase in waiting times, what steps it is taking to prevent avoidable sight loss because of delays for eye care appointments, surgery and treatment.
Answer
The Scottish Government is fully committed to supporting ophthalmology services across Scotland and the management of waiting times and delays to eye care treatment.
The Scottish Government has made available £3 million of additional funding to NHS Boards in the current financial year to support community optometrists to manage the care of some hospital patients with eye conditions. This will ensure that more patients can safely receive the care they require. An additional £4.5 million capital funding has been provided to NHS Boards to support the upgrade of imaging and examination equipment.
Through work to reduce waiting times and delays, patients are being risk stratified on a continual basis ensuring that those patients with sight-threatening conditions are given priority. Where possible, patients are being managed remotely where using Attend Anywhere/Near Me software, and telephone calls. These virtual clinics are also being used to safely manage patients who require assessments through automated examinations with the results are reviewed by medical teams.
Finally, NHS Golden Jubilee opened their new cataract treatment centre in December and additional staff are being recruited to support this.