Ophthalmology
The implementation of postoperative day 1 vitrectomy telephone follow-up consultations
In this pre-COVID-19 study, the authors argue that some follow-up consultations can be done by telephone without compromising patient safety. Thirty years ago, a study by Isernhagen et al. [1] found that 52% of patients required some form of unexpected...
Gemini Untwined: treating craniopagus conjoined twins
The authors discuss the successful separation of craniopagus conjoined twins at Great Ormond Street Hospital and the role of the ophthalmologist in such cases. Craniopagus conjoined twins are extraordinarily rare, occurring in only one in 2.5 million births and representing...
Post-Brexit deal welcomed but leaves future relationship with EU far from settled
Rod McNeil breaks down the impact of the Brexit deal on healthcare in the UK, including medicines regulation, research funding, sharing of information and the ability to work abroad. A disorderly no-deal exit from the European Union (EU) was averted...
COVID-19: Pete’s Bogus Journey
The author shares his personal experience of contracting coronavirus. I managed to body swerve COVID-19 for nine months. The Pfizer vaccine was being rolled out in my trust. I had my first inoculation booked in three weeks. I had survived...
Visual disturbance heralding stroke: are we seeing the signs in time?
Isolated visual symptoms may be an early presenting feature of stroke, and timely recognition of such atypical cases is important because treatment for stroke has a limited time-window of efficacy. Stroke occurs in approximately 150,000 people per year in the...
Profile of a tertiary referral oculoplastics service in the UK
The provision of safe and effective ophthalmic care to large patient populations has always been challenging. Severe restrictions of outpatient clinical activity due to the COVID-19 crisis has compounded this problem, with 26,800 appointments cancelled in our unit in the...
Novel changes during COVID-19 – transforming a walk-in Eye Casualty to a telephone triage service
With the current pandemic climate due to COVID-19, out of the norm approaches have been adopted in different hospitals across the UK to ensure patient safety. At our Eye Casualty (EC) department at Northampton General Hospital (NGH), we felt the...
Decoding the red eye
Red eye, or hyperaemia, is one of the most common presentations to primary care [1] and the emergency department [2]. However, despite this the underlying cause is often misdiagnosed which can lead to severe, sight-threatening conditions being missed [1]. Thorough...
Celebrating eight years of the nurse-led intravitreal injection service
Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in London celebrated the eighth year of its nurse-led intravitreal (IVT) injection service in 2020. In collaboration with Beaver-Visitec International (BVI), Moorfields’ comprehensive one-day course for non-medical staff has blossomed into a thriving success....
A missed intraocular telescope – an opportunity to re-focus the evidence
Intraocular telescopes allow magnification of the image so that it would be projected into a larger area of the macula, this makes the central defect caused by dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) smaller. The most common approach is a Galilean...
Pharmacopoeia of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
The compact volume depicted in Figure 1 bears the simple title Pharmacopoeia. The book originally belonged to the author’s father, the late John King. A pharmacist by profession, John King maintained a keen interest in matters pertaining to pharmaceutical history....
Eyecare education in times of COVID-19
A collaboration between the German Committee for the Prevention of Blindness (DKVB), Rukwa regional government in Tanzania and the University of St Andrews Global Health Team successfully delivered a hybrid teaching programme for ophthalmic nurses in Sumbawanga, south west Tanzania,...
