South Australians declared legally blind as public hospital waiting lists stretch to years

It’s been nearly a decade since a grand plan promised a fix, but now South Aussies are being declared legally blind as they languish on waiting lists.

People are going “legally blind” waiting for elective eye surgery while a proposed Adelaide eye hospital remains lost in bureaucratic limbo.

After almost a decade of false starts there is still no vision for a city eye hospital while public hospital outpatient waiting lists stretch out to almost five years — before people are put on an elective surgery waiting list.

The concept took hold in 2014 and after four health ministers, two changes of government, and multiple consultants reports and business plans, SA Health called for a Request for Information for a facility in December 2021.

However, after almost two years SA Health has not responded to the multiple submissions from groups which lodged plans.

The proposed CBD facility would be a day surgery unit to replace surgery and outpatient services at the Royal Adelaide and Queen Elizabeth hospitals and potentially Modbury Hospital.

Documents obtained by The Advertiser show as well as cutting waiting lists and wait times, it would turn a $21m loss by the Central Adelaide Local Health Network into a $2m profit over a decade while freeing up space at major hospitals including in EDs, in turn easing ramping.

RAH ophthalmologist Professor Robert Casson who is leading the case for the hospital said there is enormous frustration as it continues to be shelved as a low priority.

RAH Ophthalmologist Professor Robert Casson.

“The tender closed almost two years ago and it has been left in bureaucratic limbo — it is inexcusable,” he said.

“SA Health’s own public figures show ophthalmology is by far the highest volume specialty for elective surgery.
“People are losing their vision while they are waiting — some people are becoming legally blind.”

The latest SA Health data shows a maximum wait of 59 months to be seen as an outpatient at Flinders Medical Centre, 58 months at Modbury Hospital, 53 months at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, 22 months at Royal Adelaide Hospital and 47 months at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

Public patients then diagnosed as needing surgery are put on the ophthalmology elective surgery list which as of Friday had 3843 people listed as ready for surgery including 311 overdue, while the next busiest specialty of ENT had 3081 people listed as ready for surgery.

Prof Casson noted the most vulnerable are most at risk and most eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic eye disease are age related — and the SA population is ageing.

Dressmaker Vicki Barron, 68, of Colonel Light Gardens, had to wait months for an outpatient appointment for a cancer in her eyelid despite being a double lung transplant recipient and being blind in one eye, then “a couple of months” more for the surgery.

Vicki Barron had to wait months for eye surgery, and is in favour of an eye hospital. Picture Dean Martin

She separately had to wait about three months for cataract surgery in March 2020.

She needs eye injections every three weeks and says the stress of long waits takes a toll — she has even been sent home and told to come back the next day.

“Adelaide absolutely needs a stand-alone eye hospital the waiting time for anything at all to do with eyes is ridiculous,” she said.

A Central Adelaide Local Health Network statement says: “A project such as the establishment of a dedicated Adelaide Eye Hospital requires extensive planning and consultation.

“That is why we issued a Request for Information, calling on stakeholders to provide their views.

“As part of the ongoing process, we are continuing to explore opportunities to progress the initiative further.”

Looking back on Adelaide eye hospital saga

In 2015 the former Labor government announced plans for an eye hospital at Modbury Hospital under its Transforming Health plan but this was dumped amid criticism from vision-impaired groups worried about how people with poor vision living outside the area would get to Modbury.

The then-government commissioned consultants to identify alternative options, and the preferred site was near the RAH.

Consultants BDO were commissioned to draw up a business case but this plan was dumped with the change of government as then-Liberal health minister Stephen Wade said he would “continue to consult and investigate the best long-term strategy for eye services.”

In 2020 top ophthalmologists took a business case to the Liberal government proposing a new Adelaide eye hospital in the CBD costing about $8m to fit-out with three surgical theatres and outpatients areas.

In 2020 SA Health commissioned Destravis to draw up another business proposal leading to the public Request for Information which closed in December 2021 and remains in limbo.