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Patients suffering from serious eye conditions in Leeds will soon get better access to care and see reduced waiting times. The Seacroft Hospital has recently launced wet age-related macular degeneration services, resulting in them seeing a seventy per cent increase in patients. This replaces a service previously supplied by the St James Hospital
It replaces a service previously provided at St James’s Hospital that saw the demand for such care rise steeply since 2007.
The new service means wet AMD patients will receive assessment and treatment if required in the same room and on the same day of their assesment.
The unit costing £300,000 is co-located with refurbished ophthalmology outpatient facilities which includes a laser suite and a clinic rooms.
An AMD patient can find their personal independence severely dented as is the ability to drive, read or recognise faces, so it is hoped that with regular treatment and the important regular screenings worsening conditions can be identified earlier and the patients then receive the correct treatment at the right time.
AMD is the leading cause of blindness in the UK, mainly affecting people aged over 55 including nearly 6,000 in Leeds