With ophthalmology waiting times not where the Welsh Government or the public wants them to be, Shadow Minister for North Wales and Clwyd West MS Darren Millar is calling for investment in the Stanley Eye Unit at Abergele Hospital. 

Darren raised the matter when speaking in this week’s Welsh Conservative Debate on ophthalmology services, which noted: 

• concerns raised by RNIB Cymru that around 80,000 people who are the highest risk of irreversible sight loss are waiting beyond their target date for an appointment;
• that in April 2024, there were over 104,000 patient pathways in Wales waiting for an ophthalmology appointment; and
• that the Royal College of Ophthalmologists estimates that demand for eye-care services in Wales is expected to increase by 40 per cent over the next 20 years.

Darren asked the Welsh Government to join him in encouraging the Beisi Cadwaladr University Health Board to help clear the backlog by investing in the Stanley Eye Unit. 

He said: 

“The Stanley Eye Unit is based in Abergele Hospital, which is in my constituency. That hospital is going to have the opportunity to expand its capacity of services in the future, because much of the orthopaedic activity from there is currently being transferred to Llandudno hospital. 

“Would you join me in encouraging the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to help clear its backlog by investing in the Stanley Eye Unit to make sure that it has the capacity to deliver the extra operations that people so desperately need? 

“And will you also join me in encouraging the NHS more widely to use its resources more efficiently by encouraging it to do both eyes, if people need cataract operations, at the same time, rather than in separate appointments, which seems to me to be a nonsense and waste of resources?” 

 The motion put forward by the Welsh Conservatives called on the Welsh Government to:

a)   accept the recommendations of the National Clinical Strategy for Ophthalmology and commit to making the investment necessary to prevent the wholesale collapse of eye care services across Wales;

b)   set out targets and deadlines for improving waiting list backlogs, ensuring patients waiting receive communication about their clinical risk; and

c)   publish a timetable for the development and rollout of the electronic patient record and referral system.

Labour defeated the motion.

Watch Darren’s contribution in the Welsh Parliament below: