More than 80,000 people are at a high risk of irreversible sight loss in Wales, the Senedd has heard, as members narrowly rejected calls for action amid warnings of a “tidal wave of blindness” about to hit Wales.

Over the past decade, referrals to ophthalmic services have increased by over 50 per cent – with eye care accounting for one in every eight patients - but their workforce has stayed the same.

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists estimates that demand for eye-care services in Wales is expected to increase by 40 per cent over the next 20 years.

Montgomeryshire MS Russell George, who chairs the Health and Social Care Committee, said: “Eye care is the single busiest outpatient speciality in the Welsh NHS, accounting for 1 in every 8 patients on an NHS waiting list,” he said.

“Regretfully, the biggest increase in the number of patients waiting over a year was in ophthalmology.”

Dwyfor Meirionnydd MS Mabon ap Gwynfor agreed services are on the brink, with the Royal College of Ophthalmology describing the new strategy as the last chance.

“That the current president has warned that there is a 'tidal wave of blindness' facing us underlines this urgency,” he said.

Plaid Cymru’s shadow health secretary described the situation in north Wales as particularly fragile, with 42,809 people waiting – higher than anywhere else in the country.

He warned of the “same old pernicious paradox” of demand for services surging as the capacity of the workforce shrinks.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People Cymru’s External Affairs Manager, Nathan Owen, said: “Over 80,000 eye care patients at the highest risk of irreversible sight loss are waiting too long for their appointments.

“Sadly, for many who do lose some, or all, of their sight, this could have been avoided if they were seen on time.

“The amount of people now at risk of losing their sight would fill the Principality Stadium to capacity.”

“Each month that passes without a commitment to improve eye care sees hundreds of people added to waiting lists and the hope of tackling this crisis slips further out of reach.”

Health Secretary Jeremy Miles said the number of people waiting more than two years has fallen by 44% from a peak in March 2022, and that the Welsh Government has committed an extra £30m a year to move more eye care out of hospitals into optometry services in the community.