HSE ends routine eye screening for fifth and six class pupils

Routine eye screening of 150,000 fifth-and sixth-class primary schoolchildren has ended, the Health Service Executive has confirmed.

The HSE has told principals the service is being discontinued with immediate effect because of a lack of evidence to support its effectiveness.

The decision was taken following a review of the programme, which has not been published.

The Association of Optometrists, which drew attention to the change, expressed disappointment. It accepted the effectiveness of the programme was questionable but said the failure to reform it or provide something better would make outcomes worse.

The move will reduce eye-care services for children, when there are waiting lists of up to five years for non-urgent cases and six months for urgent cases, it said.

AOI’s Lynda McGivney Nolan called for a move to a community-based model of eye-care which she said has been successfully introduced in parts of the UK.