“The Division is very pleased to be working in partnership with the Outback Eye Service and enhancing the range of services available locally to support people with vision and eye disease,” Stuart Gordon said.

“Maintaining good eye health is an essential issue for all people, and the ability to have high quality diagnostic and treatment services available locally is an enormous advantage for the community and will bring considerable benefit to people suffering from vision impairment and diseases such as glaucoma, molecular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other eye diseases,” he said.

The eye service includes a visiting optometrist, eye nurse and ophthalmologist and is a 100 per cent bulk-billing program – including access to free spectacles for health care card holders and pensioners.

The Division and the Outback Eye Service are currently working to raise funds for additional equipment that can be permanently left in Cobar to support procedures.

Outback Eye Services Manager Joanna Barton was in town last week and said there was a very busy clinic on both days and the indications were there was strong evidence of need in the Cobar community for eye health services.

“We had a very busy clinic on both days with people seeking support for a range of eye problems and it does appear there is a backlog of patients which will take some time to get on top of,” she said.

“The Division and staff at the PHCC have been extremely helpful in supporting the clinic and creating a functional place to operate. We feel very confident the service will grow through this collaboration, including the introduction of procedural interventions in the coming months for patients referred to the ophthalmologist – which is great news as it’s free, and people will not need to travel to Dubbo or further afield for these services.”