Sight Loss

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:09 pm on 2 December 2020.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:09, 2 December 2020

I recognise that delayed treatment in eye care can lead to irreversible sight loss. So, this isn't about the ability to recover or needing more radical treatment to recover; it can be that the sight loss takes place and you can't reverse it. As you'll know, before the pandemic, we'd started on a reform process around not just the measures, but to then drive better clinical prioritisation and behaviour, and it's actually highlighted, I think, a more open understanding of what our lists show, because previously, you could have achieved a target without necessarily getting to the people in the greatest need, or at the greatest risk of suffering sight loss. So, our planned care board is already bringing people together, including the RNIB, and I think it's fair to say that the challenge they're making in public is one they're also making in the meetings they have with officials. It's really important we continue to work with them about improving sight loss services, and this will be a really significant challenge through the pandemic and then after it as well.

If nothing else, the pandemic has reiterated the need for reform with a purpose within our healthcare system. The reforms we've started, I think, are still the right ones, but it's about how we drive them forward with an even greater sense of pace and urgency, and the real can-do spirit that has highlighted and characterised the response by the national health service during the pandemic needs to carry into the recovery phase. So, I look forward to continuing to work with the RNIB and I'm sure they'll continue to challenge in both the private engagements they have as well as their public commentary, as you would expect.