Glaucoma report: patients’ sight is put at risk by treatment delays

Patients with glaucoma in England are experiencing severe and permanent sight loss because their condition is not being monitored properly owing to staff shortages in hospital eye services, an independent investigation has found.1

The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), which investigates patient safety concerns related to NHS care in England, found that eye services did not have the capacity to meet demand for glaucoma services. It said that capacity could be freed up by introducing mechanisms to ensure appropriate referral to and follow-up by hospital eye services, as well as through new ways of working to free up consultants’ time, such as redesigning pathways so that other members of the multidisciplinary team could take on …