Reform call to cut years’ wait to see public ophthalmologists

Reforms to cut years-long queues for hospital eye care have already been successfully trialled at Modbury Hospital and should be pursued to help save sight, optometrists say.

Optometrists are calling for reforms to cut waiting times running into years to see a public hospital ophthalmologist, warning delays may put people at risk of going blind.

Optometry Victoria South Australia chief executive Ilsa Hampton said a pilot scheme at Modbury Hospital in 2019 showed some of the load could be managed by optometrists, significantly cutting queues and giving patients faster access to eye care.

It follows revelations in The Advertiser that of at March 31, 2022, there are waiting times of up to seven years for an non-urgent appointment to see some hospital specialists such as urologists and gastroenterologists — but this is an improvement on March 31, 2018, when there were multiple cases of wait times blowing out beyond 16 years.

Ophthalmology has some of the longest waiting periods at all metropolitan public hospitals.

Flinders Medical Centre ophthalmology department has the longest wait of all hospitals, and of all specialties, at seven years — the same as it was four years earlier.

However, Noarlunga Hospital which had a seven-year wait for an appointment in March 2018 no longer takes such patients, pushing the load to FMC.

Other hospitals have managed drastic reductions in maximum wait times for non-urgent patients, although they still run into years.

At Royal Adelaide Hospital it is 70 months, compared to 13 years in 2018; Queen Elizabeth is 69 months (10 years in 2018), Modbury Hospital is 51 months (five years) and Women’s and Children’s Hospital 40 months (five years).

These are just appointments for consultations — if a person then requires elective surgery they go on a new wait list.

Optometry Victoria South Australia has warned such long waits for care can mean some patients are going blind while others are suffering irreversible vision damage.

Ms Hampton said it was unacceptable that South Australians can be waiting up to seven years to receive care in public ophthalmology outpatient clinics.

“We have long been campaigning for the state government to address this issue, because there are solutions that already exist,” she said.

“These include the 2019 Optometry Victoria South Australia-backed joint ophthalmology and optometry pilot at Modbury Hospital, which showed 40-to-60 per cent of the non-urgent waitlist could be effectively managed by optometrists in a collaborative care setting.

“With the change of government in South Australia we hold great hope for our ongoing conversations with Health Minister Chris Picton to lead to real change for patients.”

Ms Hampton said discussions with heads of ophthalmology to work out how optometry can help reduce wait times at hospitals have shown a more linked approach between optometrists and ophthalmologists is an “achievable vision.”