A Rickmansworth teenager faces going blind after NHS England refused to fund routine treatments for a severe eye condition.

Elly Adams, 17, suffers from uveitis, an inflammatory eye condition which can lead to the loss of peripheral and central vision, blurred or cloudy vision or loss of sight.

The teenager has the condition in both eyes and she will be visiting schools across the area in September on behalf of charity Olivia’s Vision to raise awareness of the condition.

For the last four years, the family has been forced to pay £10,000 a year for the teenager to have Humira, which earlier this month, NHS England refused to fund routinely because there was a “lack of published evidence” showing it was effective.

The teenager was taken off this drug after contracting another illness but this has left the family facing the prospect of being forced to pay for a more expensive drug, Remicade.

This is facing the axe in October, Elly's mother said.

Natalie Adams, Elly’s mother, said: “She has had the condition since the age of ten and after a long road of trying different things, we tried Humira.

“We had to take drastic action because she was in a state that was so bad, we had to do something. When it was working, I went to the NHS hospitals to try and get them to take her on. You need the back-up of an NHS hospital.

“Humira was a big success. It was a success for my daughter until she became sick and had to come off it. This drug is a wonder drug. But it is all about money.

“It was working and it nearly put her into remission. Because we got refused backing a few years ago we have had to fund it ourselves.

“We have been to three main hospitals and it is like no-one is taking notice. I feel like we are forever fighting.”

The 45-year-old mother-of-three blasted the system which does not allow appeals once an application has been refused by the NHS.

She added: “It is going to mean thousands of people are going to go blind because they cannot fund it. Our argument is that it is going to cost more than £10,000 to look after a blind person.

“If you get refused, you cannot appeal it. With some cases and illnesses, you can keep appealing until you get funding for the treatment, but once they say no, that is it.

NHS England began reviewing the use of the drugs after a high number of patients began making Individual Funding Requests.

A spokesperson for NHS England said: “These are really difficult decisions, which is why we always make use of the best available evidence as well as extensive engagement with experts, patients and the public.

“We did consider whether to routinely commission these treatments last month but on this occasion, due to the lack of published evidence on whether the treatment is effective, the policy was not supported.

“Expert groups have been set up to consider the potential for new policies on uveitis based on clinical trial results which we expect will become available later this year.”

NHS England has insisted it is working with Olivia’s Vision and other patient groups to “ensure they understand the reasons for the decision not to approve these policies, as well as next steps”.