Tuam eye clinic cuts out lengthy visits to Galway

THE specialist Eye Clinic in Tuam is delivering remarkable services closer to home for patients from all over North Galway.

That's according to Galway East TD Pete Roche who has described the service as “transformative” for families who no longer need to travel to Galway University Hospital for Opthalmology appointments.

Based on a family’s recent experience, Deputy Roche said that the service in Tuam is the right example of what delivering healthcare closer to home should mean.

“For this family, what had previously been a stressful and time-consuming hospital visit became a calm, efficient appointment within their own area.

“That makes an enormous difference, particularly when a child has additional needs or has been attending services over many years,” explained Deputy Roche.

The eye-care service at Áras Mhuire on Dublin Road in Tuam was started in May 2023. The service is delivered through the Galway Community Integrated Eye Care Team, which operated under the clinical leadership of a Consultant Medical Opthalmologist.

Its multidisciplinary staffing includes ophthalmic nurses, orthoptists, optometrists and technicians.

The team can provide assessment, diagnostic testing, monitoring, management and treatment in community settings, while retaining strong links with Galway University Hospitals for patients who require surgery, urgent intervention or more complex specialist care.

The HSE previously reported that the modernised paediatric ophthalmology pathway reduced the waiting times for children requiring eye tests in Galway from approximately two years to six weeks.

Deputy Roche believes the figures show that the service is not just more convenient, but “a reform that has delivered measurable improvements in access to care”.

He also noted that the clinic’s location makes the service particularly valuable to families across Tuam, North Galway, East Galway and the wider region.

“Every appropriate appointment delivered locally is one less journey into an already congested hospital campus and helps preserve acute hospital capacity for surgery and complex care,” he continued.