NHS waiting lists: Eyesight fear over growing hospital delays

Pam, 76, from Neyland in Pembrokeshire, requires appointments every four weeks, but on occasions she has had to wait 12 weeks for the procedures carried out by hospital specialists.

She had already lost central vision in her right eye when, three years ago, the sight in her left eye suddenly deteriorated aggressively, caused by a condition called wet macula degeneration.

She is having regular injections as a means of trying to keep fluid behind the retina under control and preserve her sight for as long as possible.

Ideally, she said appointments would be every four weeks, but on occasion she’s had to wait as long as 12 weeks for injections which need to be carried out in hospital.

As chair of her local macula support group, she said many in her position share the same concerns.

“You almost go to bed at night, frightened as to whether you’re still going to have your sight in the morning,” she said.

“And whilst for the hospital administrators it might just be a delayed appointment – for us it’s a missed injection and a missed injection is potentially deterioration of the sight we have. And that’s very frightening.”