Listen: up to 400,000 visits to over-burdened A&E departments could be saved

New analysis by the Association of Optometrists (AOP) suggests that between 62% and up to 78% of eye-related A&E visits could safely be managed in community optometry services.

That would amount to up to around 400,000 patients presenting with minor conditions such as conjunctivitis, dry eye, eye infections and some abrasions being diverted away from pressured emergency departments.

Currently, nearly 780,000 A&E visits in England each year are for eye-related conditions, making eye problems among the top 10 most common reasons people are attending emergency departments.

Aston spoke to Adam Sampson, chief executive at the Association of Optometrists.