John Reid

The health secretary has come under fire for the delayed implementation of a key treatment for blindness.

Tory leader Michael Howard said people were going blind as a result of the government's failure to tackle the problem.

Speaking in the Commons, he said staff were in place to treat elderly patients at risk of losing their sight through wet age-related macular degeneration.

In September, John Reid announced that the statutory three-month implementation period for guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence would be extended to nine months in the case of photo-dynamic therapy for the eye illness.

However, the Royal National Institute for the Blind has claimed that such a delay will mean that 2,800 additional people could go blind as a result.

Howard called on the prime minister to explain Reid's decision.

"The secretary of state said in this House last week that the reason for extending that period was a lack of trained personnel, but the RNIB has said that there are at least 50 centres across the country that could provide that treatment today," he said.

"So will the prime minister now instruct the secretary of state to deliver this important sight-saving service as a matter of urgency?"

NICE support

In response, Tony Blair insisted that the move had been supported by NICE and that the Tories had opposed extra investment in the NHS.

"I understand from what the secretary of state is saying is actually NICE itself agreed to this extension of the period, but I obviously have to look into it very carefully," he said.

"But I what would point out to him... is that it's been part of the government's investment programme in the health service massively to increase the number of training places right across the national health services and on each occassion we have made that additional investment, he has opposed it."

Howard accused Blair of "missing the point".

"The treatment could be provided now, people are going blind because they're not allowed to provide that treatment now," he said.