Thousands of patients are facing blindness under plans to ration NHS treatment for sight loss, a leading charity has warned.

The Royal National Institute for the Blind said that the government's NHS watchdog, NICE, is proposing to limit treatment unfairly for age related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common form of sight loss in the UK.

Forum Response: Guide Dogs for the Blind Association

A spokesperson for Guide Dogs for the Blind Association told ePolitix.com: "Although NICE has, as yet, made only draft proposals, if they become policy they will deny thousands of people the right to an effective treatment for their progressive blindness.

"NICE seems to be putting a price on sight. We hope that NICE will take notice of those who are calling for photodynamic therapy to be made available to all those with Wet AMD."

Forum Response: Royal National Institute for the Blind

Steve Winyard, head of public policy at RNIB, told ePolitix.com: "This recommendation beggars belief. In June NICE said you have to go blind in one eye to get treatment for Wet AMD [the most aggressive form of the disease], now they are saying you have to lose sight in both eyes."