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Postcode lottery as NHS patient denied drug that could save her sight
A WOMAN could face losing her sight because of a postcode lottery which means she cannot get the treatment she urgently needs.
Lesley Fletcher, 55, will speak before an All-Party Parliamentary Group on Eye Health and Visual Impairment tomorrow to highlight the shameful plight which leaves people in some areas to go without the treatment which those in other parts of the country are routinely given.
Catering assistant Ms Fletcher, who works for the NHS at Airedale General Hospital, said her "whole world fell apart in one minute" when she was told North Yorkshire Primary Care Trust would not fund the treatment needed to save her sight.
She was watching television at home in Sutton-in-Craven, near Keighley, in February when she realised she could barely see out of her left eye.
Her optician told her she needed an emergency hospital referral from her GP and she was given an appointment at Bradford Royal Infirmary the next day.
Tests showed she had bleeding behind her eye and was suffering from myopic macular degeneration, which leads to sight loss.
Ms Fletcher was given an appointment to receive the drug Lucentis, recommended by her consultant, but was then told that North Yorkshire was refusing to pay. Campaigners for a fairer system claim it is "common practice" for the drug to be administered in other parts of the country, including Surrey.
Ms Fletcher and her partner of 10 years Ronnie Best have 11 grandchildren between them – the youngest is six months old.
She is now terrified she will miss seeing them grow up.
"Nobody has outlined for me how likely it is that I will develop the same sight loss in my other eye, but I am very worried about it. When I am on my own I do sometimes have a cry about it,"
A spokesman for NHS North Yorkshire and York said: "Our Individual Case Panel makes decisions about whether to fund treatments for conditions which fall outside guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and are therefore not routinely commissioned by the NHS. This is the case with Lucentis for the condition myopic choroidal neovascular membranes."
The Macular Disease Society runs an advocacy service to help patients like Lesley access treatment. The Helpline number is 0845 241 2041.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 8 C to 21 C
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