Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Ian Byrne (Labour) on Wednesday, 7 May 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 12 May 2025. It was answered by Stephen Kinnock (Labour) on Tuesday, 13 May 2025 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration: Medical Treatments

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people waiting longer than 18 weeks for treatment for (a) wet macular degeneration and (b) glaucoma in (i) England, (ii) Merseyside and (iii) Liverpool.

Answer

The classification codes required to identify pathways where patients may have glaucoma or macular degeneration do not allow for distinction between the two conditions. The following table provides an estimate of the number of patients who have been waiting longer than 18 weeks for treatment specifically for wet macular degeneration and glaucoma in England, Merseyside, and Liverpool, via the latter’s integrated care boards (ICBs), as a snapshot for the week ending 27 April 2025, extracted on 8 May 2025:

Condition

England

Cheshire and Merseyside ICB

NHS Liverpool Sub ICB

Glaucoma or macular degeneration

782

41

2

Source: Waiting List Minimum Data Set, NHS England.

However, these figures may include patients that also have other conditions, as full coding for glaucoma and macular degeneration procedures requires diagnostic codes that are not available in the Waiting List Minimum Data Set.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
50585
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Medical treatments Macular degeneration Waiting lists Glaucoma
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk