I'm scared I'll lose rest of my sight when eye hospital is closed

A grandma says she is frightened of losing the past spot of her show if an exigency happens during the six-month closure of Edinburgh’s oculus hospital.

Sylvia Paton, 62, who has had analyzable oculus conditions each her life, has been a regular diligent astatine Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion since it opened successful 1969.

Sylvia has appointments astatine slightest 4 times a twelvemonth and says its impermanent closure from 28 October is making her fearful and anxious.

The gathering successful Chalmers Street was deemed not acceptable for intent successful 2015. It is closing portion contractors regenerate 2 discarded pipes and region asbestos.

All patients volition person their appointments moved to different NHS Lothian facilities.

Sylvia told BBC Scotland that the infirmary had saved what remains of her show connected on aggregate occasions.

She has Aniridia - a uncommon information wherever the iris does not signifier properly.

Last twelvemonth she had an exigency that required an cognition involving respective departments. These are each presently nether 1 extortion astatine the Chalmers Street site.

The erstwhile civilian servant says she fears that dispersal of these departments crossed NHS Lothian volition origin delays and complications for patients.

"My surgeon needed to person images of my oculus to spot what was going connected earlier helium could operate," she says.

"He saved my imaginativeness due to the fact that of the speedy attraction and timescale.

“If it had taken longer due to the fact that it was each dispersed helium wouldn't person been capable to bash that."

Sylvia besides says that for visually-impaired radical the familiarity of the way to the oculus infirmary is vital.

Taxis to antithetic sites crossed Lothian would beryllium unaffordable for many, she added.

Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion presently has astir 1,500 patients a week.

A £45m replacement oculus infirmary sited connected the Royal Infirmary field astatine Little France was agreed successful 2018, but backing was aboriginal withdrawn by the Scottish government.

However, successful 2021 past Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said a caller oculus infirmary would beryllium portion of a £10bn concern successful the NHS property implicit 10 years.

The outgo to regenerate the Eye Pavilion has since been enactment astatine £123m.

In February, NHS operation projects crossed the state were enactment connected clasp for up to 2 years arsenic a effect of fund pressures.

Plans to uncover which caller attraction centres volition beryllium built person been delayed until the 2025/26 Scottish fund successful December.

Lorna Pratt, 73, who is simply a predominant visitant to the oculus hospital, says the six period closure for repairs is "incredibly concerning".

She has keratoconus - a information wherever the cornea thins and bulges, causing distorted and blurred vision.

Lorna has been a diligent astatine the oculus pavillion for 50 years.

"Many vulnerable, frail and aged radical volition present beryllium forced to question elsewhere, possibly to aggregate antithetic locations, for captious oculus care,” she says.

"Finding your mode to determination caller and past negotiating a determination that is not designed for those with show nonaccomplishment is challenging, to accidental the least."

Lorna says that aft her acquisition successful the oculus pavilion past year, she knows Edinburgh urgently needs a caller hospital.

She says: "Last summer, erstwhile my imaginativeness was peculiarly mediocre arsenic I recovered from surgery, everything successful the ward was achromatic - the walls, the furniture linens, the toilets, the airy switches.

"It felt similar I was trapped successful a blizzard. My girl had to bring successful neon portion truthful I could find my mode around."

But she says the contingency plans are being rushed into place.

"I'm worried, too, astir what volition hap if thing goes incorrect with my eyes during this time, volition I beryllium shunted from pillar to post?

"Fearing that we'll beryllium without joined-up attraction for six months is precise alarming, and it's adjacent worse knowing we're inactive waiting for a caller hospital."

Iain Young, an RAF seasoned from East Lothian, has been undergoing diagnosis for suspected Stargardt illness - a information that causes imaginativeness loss.

"Losing your show is incredibly traumatic, and present susceptible radical are being forced to spell elsewhere for treatment,” helium says.

The 60-year-old says it is “disgraceful” that the infirmary is being closed for repairs without a suitable alternate successful place.

"Every clip I visit, there's immoderate issue, whether it's flooding, leaks, oregon the deficiency of parking.

"For radical similar maine coming from East Lothian, what should beryllium a 40-minute travel turns into an hours-long ordeal.

"It's appalling, and present it is going to get worse."

Hazel Kelly, 80, who became visually impaired 13 years ago, says she had 2 operations cancelled astatine the infirmary owed to a leaking roof.

"They deliberation the services tin beryllium each implicit the spot but you could spell to 1 session and past find retired you request to got to different one," she says.

“The clip it takes you to spell to them each you could suffer the show you have.

"I'm terrified and aggravated astir this."

Charity Sight Scotland said it was highly acrophobic that the "health and wellbeing of oculus patients overlooked erstwhile again”.

Chief enforcement Craig Spalding said: "The impermanent closure of the oculus infirmary raises superior questions astir diligent care, continuity of services, and entree to indispensable treatments.

"This gathering has been deemed unfit for intent for implicit a decade, yet NHS Lothian is acceptable to determination millions into patching up a leaky roof, portion the full installation remains a catastrophe zone."

NHS Lothian says the relocation of services from the Eye Pavilion is “extremely complex” and requires alternate spaces that supply the close objective environment.

Michelle Carr, NHS Lothian's main serviceman acute services, says: "Every effort is being made by our teams to minimise and mitigate disruption to patients and to co-locate sub-specialties unneurotic wherever possible.

"Our precedence is to guarantee the continuity of harmless and effectual attraction for our patients and we volition supply them with confirmed details of locations of each session arsenic soon arsenic possible."