05 July 2024

New government must act now to stop avoidable blindness

FODO - The Association for Eye Care Providers - calls on the new government to invest more in primary eye care to save the NHS money and save sight.  

• Delays in hospital treatment are causing irreversible sight loss 
• This has a massive impact and cost on individuals, the NHS and wider economy 
• Acting now will help reduce the cost and impact of sight loss.  

Loss of sight due to delays in hospital care is 100% avoidable and, for each person, represents a costly tragedy.  

The NHS is already paying out millions in compensation due to delays in eye care. This will get worse unless action is taken now.*   

The NHS urgently needs to reform the costly and unsustainable hospital outpatient model of eye care. It can achieve this by rebalancing NHS investment so that more work is done in cost-effective primary eye care settings, closer to home and out of hospital.

Investing more in primary eye care will help slash the cost of delayed hospital care and sight loss. 

With our members, who provide more than 80% of primary eye care services in England, we are committed to working with new ministers, the NHS and all sector partners to deliver: 

1. Frictionless digital connectivity between primary and hospital eye care services, helping to reduce duplication and costs in the system. 
2. Enhanced primary eye care services in all communities. An initial focus on urgent eye care and glaucoma services will immediately reduce pressure on hospitals and help prevent avoidable sight loss. 

Note to editors  

FODO is the association for eye care providers. Each year, our members provide over 18 million eye examinations and offer a wide range of other eye care services across the UK. https://www.fodo.com/about-us  

Contact our health policy experts by email: [email protected]. 

Read our position statement on Sight loss due to delays in care. 

Learn more about our goals in Principles and priorities for primary eye care.

*NHS Resolution data shows that the NHS paid out more than £47 million in four years (2018-22) in medical malpractice claims as a result of 'fail/delays' in treatment (FOI 5987). More recent data shows the number of claims in ophthalmology has increased from 99 in 2006/07 to 303 in 2023/24, with total payments of £321.8 million over this period. In 2022/23, there were 91 claims for delays in treatment, diagnosis and failing to follow-up, at a cost of £29.4 million (FOI 6423).