A retired electrician from Cardonald is able to see his five grandchildren grow up thanks to a sight-saving procedure delivered at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow.
John MacDonald, 73, suffers from a macular oedema as a result of type-1 diabetes.
Without treatment, his sight would rapidly deteriorate but luckily, through regularly receiving intravitreal injections (IVT) carried out at the QEUH, he has been able to maintain his vision so that he can enjoy spending time with his three children and five young grandchildren.
IVT is a crucial lifeline for thousands of people living in the west of Scotland with a range of degenerative eye conditions. Without the treatment, many would go blind, or at the very least cause irreparable damage to their eye-sight.
It has been offered across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) for a number of years and was one of the services which the team was able to ensure remained in place throughout the pandemic.
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For John, this has been particularly important as he has already lost most of the sight in one eye. Regular injections around every five weeks have helped him maintain a good quality of vision in his other eye.
John said: “I have type-1 diabetes which affects my eye sight and unfortunately I don’t see particularly well in one eye so it’s really important to me to protect the sight in my other eye.
“Without my injections, I wouldn’t be able to see my grandchildren growing up, which is the most important thing for me.
“The teams at the hospital have been fantastic throughout the whole period. At one point I was moved to the New Victoria due to the pandemic but it was no problem whatsoever – nurses Arlene Rodgers and Lorraine Shields have been great. I’m in and out in 20 minutes and despite the pandemic, my treatment has always continued as normal.”
Senior ophthalmic nurse, Arlene Rodgers helped pioneer the IVT service across NHSGGC which now delivers upwards of 2000 procedures per month. Arlene commented: “We recognise how important IVT is for our patients. The impact it has on the quality of life for many is huge, and we’re proud that we’ve been able to maintain the service through the pandemic.
“We’re currently training more ophthalmology nurses to deliver the treatment so we hope to be able to further scale up the number we can perform across the health board in coming months.”
