Mr. Aaron Mullaniff:

I am presenting here today on behalf of a patient organisation and as a keen stakeholder. There has been a great deal of focus on the numbers, the contracts and the nuances in the structures in the region and the integration challenges around that. We need to bring this back to the real and the felt need, and what is happening on the ground. In the context of what often comes through our door before going through the hospital door, the fact that getting a diagnosis is often seen as success is a little strange. The reality is that one in three ophthalmology patients is found to be waiting in excess of 18 months at present. That does not mean they are just waiting 18 months; they can be waiting longer. I am speaking in general. That period can be really testing; it can be really tense. Given that sight is the sense that people fear losing most, it is not okay, from an organisational perspective, to sit here and be okay with that.

The NERIECS initiative is already showing early success. I want to again highlight the integration into the community, where we have embedded the ECLOs in the north east. Typically, patients have been obliged to wait three and a half years before they come through the door of the national sight loss agency. In some instances, that is now down to three and a half weeks. As Dr. Rogers indicated, what we tend to see most is macular degeneration. This condition is age-related. We have an ageing population. There is a boom expected. It is life-changing. Whether you are a parent of a new baby, whether you are a small child or whether you are an adult who has acquired sight loss in the course of your working life, sight loss impacts on all aspects of your life and all aspects of your family. From the NCBI perspective, we are here to galvanise people when it comes to the NERIECS initiative. We want to transform the way in which we deliver medical eye care across the acute and community settings. We are fully behind the VACO. In the context of the structures and governance that have been put forward - on which this team has worked so hard - we really are encouraging the State and, in particular, the committee to consider providing the necessary funding required to drive the implementation of the NERIECS model. It is the first model we have seen in a long time that we have been part of. It is showing early results. In the interests of our patients, we all need to do more collectively. There is a certain amount of responsibility, not just on this team but also on the committee.