Optometrists network 'could end public eye care backlog'
This time, self-employed people with enough PRSI payments can also avail of the scheme — offering the service to some 450,000 citizens who previously could get no benefit.
But that's just a small part of what's needed to properly provide eye care services to the Irish people, in a system that's not just way behind best practice in other European countries, but is arguably leading to unnecessary sight loss.
All because the health authority won't shift much of the waiting list to the network of qualified optometrists in the private sector throughout the country, even though the HSE itself has been told that up to 60pc of current outpatient activity could be moved from the country's hospitals into the community.
The Association of Optometrists Ireland says that utilising the current network of 600 optometrists in private practice to do this would save up to €32m a year, nearly a quarter of that in children's services. Treating many conditions via local optometrists is only half the cost of doing so via the hospital system, according to the AOI.
"It would also mean earlier diagnosis of many problems, because waiting lists for examination, and for subsequent treatments, are off the scale," says Kilcullen based optometrist Nichola Kennedy. "For example, nationally there are some 38,000 people awaiting appointments at the moment, and that's 20pc more than there were at the end of last year.
"Much of the backlog is due to conditions which can be managed by optometrists, such as prescription of spectacles, management of post-cataract operation cases, minor dry eye cases. Only cases requiring medical management need be referred into the hospitals-HSE system. A large portion of the backlog can be assessed, and triaged effectively by optometrists. We're already doing that work privately, and we're willing to do it for the public eye care system."
It makes no sense sticking to the old way, which clearly is not fit for purpose. There are about 13,000 totally blind people in Ireland, and an estimated 225,000 with low vision and sight loss. Those numbers will grow as the population does, and as it ages.
But that growth could be reduced because many sight problems can be either prevented or held at a level if symptoms in both children's and adults' eyecare are spotted early enough. "With waiting times for appointments in the hospitals system extending to as long as 18 months, the chances of achieving this are diminished," says Nichola Kennedy.
A report during the summer by the HSE's own Primary Care Eye Services Review Group identified the inadequacies in the current system. These included outdated methodology and understaffing, and what was described as 'poor pathways between service providers'. The Group suggested setting up regional eye care centres, with 'some' involvement of optometrists.
That seems just like needlessly setting up another layer on the current inefficient system, instead of making use of the existing network of 300 local private 'centres' already manned by a corps of qualified people, ready and willing to do the work.
