Reacting to the announcement by the Prime Minster of the abolition of NHS England, Vivienne Francis, Chief of Strategy and Public Affairs at RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) said: "The abolition of NHS England has been heralded as freeing up resources and streamlining decision making. What's vital is that the needs of patients are put at the centre as these changes unfold.
"We’re currently facing a crisis in eye care in England with more than 575,000 people on ophthalmology waiting lists as of January 2025. With a waiting list backlog this large, we hope restructuring won’t distract from the mission of driving down the number of people waiting long periods for eye care and their eye health being put at risk.
"Working with sector partners, RNIB developed the Eye Care Support Pathway to support patients at every stage of their eye health journey preventing avoidable sight loss and supporting those already experiencing sight loss. It's critical the implementation of this Pathway does not lose momentum while these changes take place, so that patients never feel alone or abandoned when they face changes to their vision.
“Blind and partially sighted people continue to tell us about not having their rights to accessible health information upheld. We urgently call for every part of the health and care system to do more to meet this fundamental right.”
