Eye Care Services

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:12 pm on 29 June 2022.

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Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 3:12, 29 June 2022

Thanks very much, Andrew. I absolutely am very aware of the fact that there are certain conditions where we have to move fast, and this is one of them, which is why what we've done is to ask clinicians to sort out priorities, to put people into categories so that we are really getting to the people who need the most urgent help fastest. Of course, what we are doing is implementing the recommendations of the Pyott report, and one of those is now being implemented. So, we've got two new surgical mobile theatres dedicated to cataract treatment. They're in operation in Cardiff and the Vale, and that was funded by £1.4 million of funding from the Welsh Government.

In terms of working practices, we are looking to change the rules. So, the rules currently say that high street optometrists, for example, can only check eyesight, but their skills go way beyond that, and we need to change the rules to allow them to do that. So, the process is not as straightforward as it seems to change the rules, but we are absolutely in the process of seeing how far and how quickly we can do that. 

When it comes to recruitment, of course, we're working with Health Education and Improvement Wales in terms of specialising and making sure we've got the right people to do the right things in the right place. And certainly, when it comes to high streets, we are very, very keen to make sure that they are a part of the solution to this problem.