North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has today called on the Welsh Government to hold Health Boards to account over their failure to meet eye care waiting time targets and implementation of eyecare measures.
Speaking in the Welsh Conservative Debate on Sight Loss, Mr Isherwood said that with the number of people with sight loss in Wales expected to double to 222,000 by 2050, it is crucial that waiting time targets are met.
He said:
“Sight loss and blindness affects independence and mobility, including risks of falls and injury, mental health, cognition, employment and educational attainment.
“It is therefore imperative that the Welsh Government and Local Health Boards are robustly held to account over failure to meet eyecare waiting time targets and implementation of eyecare measures.
“Last October, the Wales Audit Office reported that NHS Wales follow-up waiting lists had increased substantially, with Ophthalmology the second worse of all disciplines.
“In April, the Welsh Government published the first Health Board performance data against the new Eye Care Measures for NHS Outpatients. RNIB Cymru believes that publication of the data is a major step forward in making Health Boards more accountable for the delivery of eye care services.
“The charity has welcomed the Welsh Government’s commitment to developing new targets for new and follow up appointments according to the patients’ risk of irreversible sight loss. However, the April data showed that not a single Health Board is yet meeting the new Welsh Government targets.
“RNIB Cymru states that this reflects what patients in Wales have been saying for years, with thousands having experienced repeated cancelled and delayed appointments, putting them at real risk of losing their sight because they aren’t getting the right care and treatment at the right time.
“It is RNIB Cymru that is therefore calling for Health Boards to be robustly held to account, a major drive to redesign services, and a strategic, national and multidisciplinary approach to Ophthalmology workforce planning.
He added: “Action on Hearing Loss also states that we are still seeing failings 5 years after the introduction of the “All Wales Standards for Accessible Communication and Information for People with Sensory Loss” in the NHS, that there is currently no measuring or regulation of the standards, and that this should be part of quality improvement by Welsh Ministers and NHS Bodies - to include patient experience.
“After all: the Welsh Government states its support for the Social Model of Disability, which recognizes that people are disabled by society, not their impairment, that we must tackle the barriers to access and inclusion for all, and that everyone must be allowed independence, voice, choice and control in their lives: ‘Nothing about us, without us’.
“The Social Services and Wellbeing Act Part 2 Code of Practice states “This puts in place a system where people are full partners in the design and operation of care and support”. And, the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act states that public bodies must demonstrate the involvement of the people that services or activities are going to benefit or affect from as early a stage as possible.”