Half of eye care patients at risk of irreversible harm due to waiting times

Plaid Cymru has called on Welsh Government to address the thousands of people in Wales at risk of irreversible eye damage.

The latest eye care waiting times show that over half (52.7%) of eye care patients in the highest risk category have had to wait longer than the target date for an outpatient appointment.

This amounts to more than 60,000 patients who are at risk of irreversible harm because their target date has been missed.

Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for health and care, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said,

“Thousands of patients across Wales are on waiting lists right now, wondering whether they’ll get their first appointment in time to halt irreversible eye damage.

 “These figures are the latest in a long list of patients left waiting for urgent treatment, but we mustn’t forget that the situation was bad before the pandemic. At the start of 2020, a third of patients did not receive their outpatient appointment within the target time.

 “Welsh Government must address these concerns and provide detail of what is being done to rectify the situation.”