DEPUTY Health Minister Vaughan Gething has launched a new campaign saying “Your local optician is often the best place for you to go if you have problems with your eyes, not A&E”.

The Welsh Government is encouraging people to visit an optician to access acute eye care rather than going to their GP or Accident and Emergency.

Optometrists can provide free expert advice and can help those not registered with them. Optometry Wales, Sight Cymru, Wales Council for the Blind, RNIB Cymru and Public Health Wales support the new campaign.

Evidence suggests patients often are unaware of the full range of healthcare services optometrists can provide and instead visit an emergency department or dial 999.

The ambulance service has seen a 205 per cent rise in calls since 1991 and a seven per cent increase in attendances to major emergency departments across Wales over the last five years.

Vaughan Gething said: “If you have a sudden eye problem, in many cases, your local optician is often the best place for you to go, not A&E or a pharmacist. Optometrists are the experts.

“Your local high street optometrist can give you expert advice on eye problems that need urgent attention and the best way to treat them. They have better equipment than GP surgeries for examining eyes.

“People can use any optician, without being registered with them. There is no charge if you have a problem that needs to be looked at urgently. Importantly, people often won’t need an appointment and can be seen quickly. An optometrist will see you free of charge within 24 hours or refer you to someone who can. Many opticians are open on Saturdays. Our campaign is about getting people to choose well and access the most appropriate healthcare for their problems.”

The Welsh Government has invested money into the NHS to further improve access to eye care including £1m through the Health Technologies and Telehealth Fun to establish IT systems across primary and secondary care and release capacity in hospital.