Plaid Cymru has stepped up the call for a new deal for eye services in Wales, with a demand by the party's Swansea and Gower organisation for the setting up of regional eye care centres to counter fears of growing instances of blindness.
In a letter to First Minister Mark Drakeford and health secretary Eluned Morgan, Plaid Cymru says that latest Welsh Government figures showing that 75,000 people in Wales on waiting lists are now at risk of losing their sight can no longer be ignored.
Plaid Cymru spokesman Dr Dai Lloyd said that the huge growth in waiting lists in recent years cries out for drastic action.
"While the Covid pandemic has made things worse, the sad truth is that we were barely keeping up with the eye care crisis before", said Dr Lloyd, former Senedd Member for South-west Wales, in a letter to the two ministers.
"Now we are at a stage where marginal improvements to existing services just won't do. The Welsh Government's own statistics show that current policies are failing, and that a new deal is needed.
"To tackle this threat to people's eyesight, we need a network of regional centres of excellence, dedicated to reducing the waiting lists to zero and ensuring prompt treatment where it is needed.
Plaid Cymru backs the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in Wales, whose president Dr Gwyn Williams has called for urgent action on the external review of eye care in 2021, which showed that Wales had some of the lowest numbers of eye specialists anywhere in the UK, Dr Lloyd
Gweithredu Nawr i Arbed Golwg Pobl - Plaid Cymru
August 8, 2023
Mae Plaid Cymru wedi dwysau'r pwysau am welliant sylweddol i'r gwasanaethau llygad yng Nghymru, gydag etholaethau Abertawe a Gŵyr yn galw am sefydlu canolfannau gofal llygad i ddelio â'r ofn bod enghreifftiau cynyddol o ddallineb.
Mewn llythyr i'r Prif Weinidog Mark Drakeford a'r ysgrifennydd iechyd Eluned Morgan, dywed Plaid Cymru na ellir bellach anwybyddu ffigurau Llywodraeth Cymru sy'n dangos bod 75,000 o bobl ar restri aros erbyn hyn sydd mewn perygl o golli eu golwg.
Dywed llefarydd y Blaid y Dr Dai Lloyd fod y twf aruthrol mewn rhestri aros yn y blynyddoedd diweddar yn dangos bod angen gweithredu'n bwrpasol.
"Er i'r pandemig Covid yn ddi-os waethygu pethau, y gwir trist yw nad oedden ni'n delio â'r argyfwng gofal llygaid o'r blaen ", medd Dr Lloyd, y cyn-Aelod Senedd dros Dde-Orllewin Cymru mewn llythyr i'r ddau weinidog.
"Rydyn ni bellach wedi cyrraedd sefyllfa na wnaiff gwelliannau bychain i'r gwasanaethau presennol y tro. Mae ystadegau Llywodraeth Cymru ei hun yn dangos methiant eu polisïau presennol, a bod angen trefn newydd.
"Er mwyn mynd i'r afael â'r bygythiad hwn i olwg pobl, rhaid wrth rwydwaith o ganolfannau rhagoriaeth rhanbarthol, gyda'r nod o dorri'r rhestri aros a sicrhau triniaeth ar fyrder yn ôl yr angen."
Ychwanegodd Dr Lloyd fod Plaid Cymru'n cefnogi Coleg Brenhinol yr Offthalmolegwyr yng Nghymru, ac yn benodol y galwad gan eu llywydd Dr Gwyn Williams sydd wedi pwyso am weithredu ar adolygiad allanol o ofal llygaid yn 2021, a ddangosodd fod gan Gymru ymhlith y nifer lleiaf o ran arbenigwyr llygaid drwy wledydd Prydain
Swansea only got one out of 4 bids from the UK government levelling up fund.
By now, we know that Westminster's Levelling Up programme has nothing to do with need or poverty, as two thirds of the successful bids were from wealthy Tory held Constituencies.
The decision to leave the European Union is causing serious damage to our local economy.
Swansea Plaid Cymru has stated there is irrefutable evidence that the decision to leave the European Union is causing serious damage to our local economy. Professor Paul Boyce, the vice-chancellor of Swansea University, appears to agree with our assessment.
Mae'r penderfyniad i adael yr Undeb Ewropeaidd yn achosi niwed difrifol i'n heconomi leol.
Mae Plaid Cymru Abertawe wedi datgan bod tystiolaeth ddigamsyniol bod y penderfyniad i adael yr Undeb Ewropeaidd yn achosi niwed difrifol i'n heconomi leol. Ymddengys bod yr Athro Paul Boyce, is-ganghellor Prifysgol Abertawe, yn cytuno â'n hasesiad.
The Co-operation Agreement Government in Wales has delivered the introduction of universal free school meals for primary school children, radical action to address second homes and the housing crisis, protecting the interests of farmers, the introduction of free childcare for two year olds and agreeing a way forward on Senedd Reform to strengthen democracy and expand our Senedd.
Y Cytundeb Cydweithio gyda Llywodraeth Llafur Cymru
Mae’r Cytundeb Cydweithio gyda Llywodraeth Llafur Cymru wedi cyflwyno prydau ysgol am ddim i holl blant ysgolion cynradd, gweithredu radical i fynd i'r afael ag ail gartref a'r argyfwng tai, gwarchod buddiannau ffermwyr, cyflwyno gofal plant am ddim i blant dwy oed a gosod y ffordd ymlaen ar Ddiwygio'r Senedd i gryfhau ein democratiaeth ac ehangu ein Senedd.
Plaid Cymru has stepped up the call for a new deal for eye services in
Wales, with a demand by the party's Swansea and Gower organisation for
the setting up of regional eye care centres to counter fears of
growing instances of blindness
Mae Plaid Cymru wedi dwysau'r pwysau am welliant sylweddol i'r
gwasanaethau llygad yng Nghymru, gydag etholaethau Abertawe a Gŵyr yn
galw am sefydlu canolfannau gofal llygad i ddelio â'r ofn bod
enghreifftiau cynyddol o ddallineb.
The big turnout at this year's Independence Rally in Swansea has given a major boost to the prospects for a Plaid Cymru breakthrough in impending elections.
The big turnout at this year's Independence Rally in Swansea has given a major boost to the prospects for a Plaid Cymru breakthrough in impending elections.
