Eye patients forced to go private or go blind due to soaring NHS waiting lists

PA

Patients are being forced to pay for private eye care or risk going blind as the backlog for NHS treatment soars.

Waiting times for NHS ophthalmology services, which accounts for almost 10 per cent of the 7.8 million national backlog, have forced 81 per cent of patients to pay for private healthcare, according to a survey by the Association of Optometrists (AOP).