Edinburgh eye patients warn it would be 'impossible' for many elderly and nearly-blind people to go to Livingston instead

Patients at Edinburgh's Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion say it would be "impossible" for many who rely on its services if they were expected to go to Livingston instead.

Many patients attending Edinburgh's Princess Alexandria Eye Pavilion would struggle to get to Livingston Pic Greg Macvean

As MSPs prepare to debate the future of the Eye Pavilion this afternoon , the patients spoke out about the Scottish Government's refusal to fund a replacement hospital and the suggestion services should instead be dispersed across the region, including to a new elective centre in West Lothian.

June Edgar, who recently had an operation at the Eye Pavilion, said she was surprised when she heard patients could be diverted to Livingston

"There had been no question that something like that was going to happen - there was going to be a spanking new Pavilion."

She said it was clear there had been no investment in the current building and it was "very run down".

But she said the hospital had been busy with a lot of elderly people on her last visit. "There were people who can hardly walk, hardly see, propping each other up to come in - it would be impossible for them to get out to St John's."

And she said it was not just people with mobility problems who would struggle to get to Livingston.

"My first time going to the Eye Pavilion was in a taxi as an emergency at 5pm one night - could I have gone in a taxi to Livingston? It would probably have cost me about £100 to get out there.

"It's very stressful with your eyes - if you have anything wrong you want to get them seen to instantly. It's such a crucial thing for people."

And Hilary Davies, who has retinitis pigmentosa and is registered blind, said she was very upset when learned the government was not going to fund a replacement for the Eye Pavilion..

"I have next to no sight and it's so important to me that I can, as easily as possible, go to a service. If it did move out to Livingston it would be so much more difficult.

"I had to go to Livingston for something else – the hospital was excellent but I would not want to go there for all of my eye things. A place like Edinburgh should have a hospital offering expert service, not have people trek out to Livingston."

In this afternoon’s Holyrood debate led by Lothian Tory MSP Miles Briggs there is expected to be cross-party support for calls on the government to rethink its plans.

The government has said it rejected the business case for a new Eye Pavilion next to the Royal Infirmary at Little France because it did not recognise that new technology and medical advances meant more eye care services were now being delivered in the community, closer to patients. It suggested a more regional approach to provision should be considered, including use of the new elective treatment centre being built next to St John’s Hospital, Livingston, and it is awaiting NHS Lothian’s proposals.

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