Two of Scotland’s oldest sight loss charities, Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans, have today launched a new campaign calling for a new eye hospital in Edinburgh.
The charities, who are warning that people’s eye health is being placed at risk due to the current poor facilities, are asking people to sign a petition calling on the Scottish Government to commit to funding the new eye hospital in Edinburgh, without any further delays.
A new eye hospital in Edinburgh was promised by the Scottish Government in 2018, after the current building was declared unfit for purpose back in 2014. Despite this, the Scottish Government withdrew funding from the project in December 2020. In a major U-turn, former First Minster Nicola Sturgeon declared it would go ahead in 2021 but gave no timescales for its completion. It could now be as late as 2027 until a new facility is built.
A recent meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Michael Matheson, organised by Sarah Boyack MSP with representation from Sight Scotland, RNIB Scotland and local campaigning group, KEEP (Keep Edinburgh Eye Pavilion), provided little clarity on the timescales expected for the new building, adding it might be dropped in the next round of capital grant funding before the end of 2023.
Craig Spalding, Chief Executive of Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans, comments: “We’ve heard first-hand the mounting concerns about the current eye hospital in Edinburgh. The Scottish Government declared the building unfit for use in 2014, yet nine years on all we’ve had is empty promises to establish a new facility. The medical staff and doctors are under increasing pressure to deliver services in extremely challenging conditions, ultimately impacting the quality of care patients receive. We’re really worried about reports of out of order lifts and leaks from the ceiling, causing a major risk to patient safety. People in Edinburgh and the Lothians deserve better. We’re calling on the Scottish Government to commit to a new hospital in the upcoming funding review to ensure people can access eye healthcare services they desperately need.”
Ronnie Wilkies, from Edinburgh, who is visually impaired and a Sight Scotland policy group member, said: “The eye health of people in the Edinburgh area is being neglected. I had an appointment in the eye pavilion and myself, the doctor and group of students had to evacuate the consultation room because of a severe leak from the roof. After that experience it was such good news when Lothian health board announced their plans for the new hospital, but it seems yet again, this could all be undone. The west of Scotland has at least four quality eye healthcare facilities and frankly it would be a travesty if the east of the country were not to receive funding for a new hospital. There would be so much scope in building a new hospital to encompass teaching and many other services too for people with eye conditions.”
Hazel Kelly, chair of Corstorphine Connect Sight Loss Group, and also a founding member of KEEP, says: “My first experience of this building is it is really tired and rundown, and having had several eye operations, where I had to stay for three days or longer in an open ward with toilets and washing facilities down a long corridor, this is certainly not ideal for patients with eye issues. In addition, at one point I had an operation cancelled due to a leaking roof. We urgently need a new eye hospital before other people have similar experiences."
Hazel Kelly, chair of Corstorphine Connect Sight Loss Group.
Sarah Boyack MSP adds: “The current eye hospital building is a grave area for concern with real risks to patient safety due to leaking roofs and broken lifts. With growing numbers of people living with sight loss and median waiting times for ophthalmology now at 14 weeks, a new eye hospital in Edinburgh is desperately needed.
You can sign the petition demanding a new eye hospital in Edinburgh here: https://sightscotland.eaction.org.uk/NewEyeHospital
