Angela's figures mean that the number of people with sight loss in Wales is expected to double to 222,000 by 2050 and sight loss and blindness affect independence and mobility, including the risk of falls, of injury, mental health, cognition, employment and educational attainment. It's therefore imperative that the Welsh Government and local health boards are robustly held to account over failure to meet eye care waiting time targets and the implementation of eye care measures.

Last October, the Wales Audit Office reported that NHS Wales follow-up waiting lists have increased substantially with ophthalmology the second worst of all disciplines. In April, the Welsh Government published the first health board performance data against the new eye care measures for NHS out-patients. RNIB Cymru believes that the publication of this data is a major step forward in making health boards more accountable for the delivery of eye care services. The charity has welcomed the Welsh Government's commitment to developing new targets for new or follow-up appointments according to the patient's risk of irreversible sight loss—something that Helen Mary sadly shared with us in terms of her own family. However, the April data showed that not a single health board is yet meeting the new Welsh Government targets. RNIB Cymru states that this reflects what patients in Wales have been saying for years, with thousands having experienced repeated cancelled and delayed appointments, putting them at real risk of losing their sight because they aren't getting the right care and treatment at the right time.

It is RNIB Cymru that is, therefore, calling for health boards to be robustly held to account, a major drive to redesign services and a strategic national and multidisciplinary approach to ophthalmology workforce planning. Action on Hearing Loss also states that we're still seeing failings five years after the introduction of the all-Wales standards for accessible communication and information for people with sensory loss—sight and hearing—in the NHS, that there is currently no measuring or regulation of the standards, and that this should be part of quality improvement by Welsh Ministers and NHS bodies to include patient experience. After all, the Welsh Government states its support for the social model of disability, which recognises that people are disabled by society, not their impairment, that we must tackle the barriers to access and inclusion for all, and that everyone must be allowed independence, voice, choice and control in their lives—nothing about us without us. The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 Part 2 code of practice states this,

'puts in place a system where people are full partners in the design and operation of care and support.'

And, finally, the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 states that public bodies must demonstrate the involvement of the people that services or activities are going to benefit or affect from as early a stage as possible. Legislation is only meaningful if it's implemented. Diolch yn fawr.