A HAMPSHIRE MP is calling on healthcare chiefs to do more to help a couple who face going blind or losing their home if they carry on paying for expensive eye treatment.

Romsey MP Sandra Gidley, below, has been in contact with Lawrence and Sheila O'Brien, from Rownhams, who are being forced to pay thousands of pounds in private treatment to stop them from going blind from eye disease wet age-related macular degeneration.

The retired couple say they will have to sell their home of 20 years if they don't get help soon as they can no longer afford injections of a revolutionary new drug that cost £600 for each eye.

Lawrence, 74, and Joan, 70, have already paid out more than £6,000 between them for treatment that is made available by private doctors but not by the NHS.

They are receiving injections of Avastin, which is normally used to treat bowel cancer and is not licensed as an anti-blindness drug.

Instead, the licensed treatments of Lucentis - a form of Avastin - and the more expensive Macugen, are at the centre of debate with Primary Care Trusts around the country as they have not yet been approved by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence - NICE - for use on the NHS, despite it now being made available free to patients in Scotland.

But Liberal Democrat MP Mrs Gidley, said that PCT bosses in Southampton, who cover the couple's healthcare, should follow the advice by the Government's health secretary.

"Patricia Hewitt herself said that NICE approval should not be a barrier when issuing treatment for patients," she said.

Mrs Gidley, who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Eye Health said she would be writing to the PCT bosses to see what could be done about the couple's case.

"This is very sad and clearly an important case where a couple face losing their sight. I hope the PCT do everything they can to quickly examine their case and make them an exception to allow this treatment to be used," she added.

Retired cleaning business owner Lawrence, said: "We really can't afford the expensive treatment much longer. We have paid our National Insurance all our lives and it is like we are being punished for living in the wrong country."

The most common cause of sight loss, wet AMD can make a person blind in three months and affects 26,000 elderly people in the UK every year.

A spokeswoman for Southampton PCT said it is examining two cases of wet AMD in order to consider allowing treatment on the NHS but were unable to confirm if this was Mr and Mrs O'Brien due to patient confidentiality.