New community based eye services being developed in West Wales
New community based eye services being developed in West Wales will reduce the travel burden for hundreds of patients, travelling some of the greatest distances in the UK to access eye care. Patients in the Hywel Dda University Health Board (UHB) travel to one of two sites to access wet AMD (an age-related macular degeneration, eye condition, which causes people to lose vision) services, either at Amman Valley Hospital, in Ammanford, or Bronglais Hospital, Aberystwyth. For some patients in Pembrokeshire and south Ceredigion, this has required return journeys in excess of 100 miles for review, and sometimes a second journey for treatment (injection). Thanks to Welsh Government funding for a pilot project, the UHB is in a position to now establish additional services in Pembrokeshire and South Ceredigion. Not only will these services bring care closer to home for these communities, but they will be developed as one-stop-shop services, which can accommodate review and injection in the sam...