New eye care facilities will help cut waiting time

Health Minister, Eluned Morgan has welcomed progress on new eye care facilities which will increase the number of patients receiving eye care treatment and cut waiting times.

To accommodate the growing number of patients requiring eye care, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board worked in partnership with Cardiff University to re-think how eye care was delivered to the population of Cardiff and the Vale. In just 100 days, the NHS Wales University Eye Care Centre was established in Cardiff to improve access to eye care and support the recovery of services to pre-pandemic levels.

With demand for eye care services growing, the NHS Wales University Eye Care Centre in Cardiff is one example of how NHS Wales is reducing the wait for people with urgent or complex eye cases to be seen in hospital, by carrying out eye care treatments within a primary care setting.

The NHS Wales University Eye Care Centre provides additional training to upskill Optometrists to allow them to see a wider variety of people who traditionally would have needed to been seen in hospital. The Centre, in collaboration with the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences at Cardiff University, is currently providing training for nine Optometrists to attain the higher qualifications in the delivery of Glaucoma. Attending the clinic one day per week the Optometrists undertaking the qualification see over 35 patients per week in a clinical setting as they work towards their award. Following the success of the training, a further twelve Optometrists are due to commence training to attain the Higher Certificate in Medical Retina in March, and will be seeing over 50 patients per week.