Missed eye appointments may increase sight loss post-lockdown

The COVID-19 lockdown is threatening the sight of thousands of elderly people across the UK as eye clinics have reported more than a 70% reduction in new referrals and a high rate of missed appointments, finds a new study co-led by UCL. Researchers and national sight loss charity the Macular Society have raised concerns about the long-term impact this will have, as it's predicted it will have led to between 234 and 470 additional cases of severe sight impairment in April alone. Since the start of the outbreak ophthalmologists in UK eye clinics have reported as much as a 25% reduction in the number of patients with known age-related macular degeneration (AMD) - the nation's biggest cause of blindness - attending appointments for sight-saving treatment. The new report, published as a pre-print on medRxiv and awaiting peer review, from some of the largest clinics in the country has also revealed the significant drop in new patients presenting with wet AMD, a treatable form of the condition. Moorfields Eye Hospital, King's College London Hospital, University Hospital Southampton and Whipps Cross Hospital have reported anything from a 65% drop in new referrals to an 87% drop in the first month of the coronavirus outbreak, compared to the same period last year. One of the authors of the report, Professor A dnan Tufail (Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology) raised concerns that this will increase the burden that COVID-19 is already having on health, well-being and social care costs.