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Initiatives in macular service provision

A report from Monitor in October 2015 identifies good practices that will realise most of the potential productivity gain in elective care available to NHS hospitals. These include: stratifying patients by risk and creating low-complexity pathways for lower-risk patients (tailoring...

NICE drugs: an update on what’s good to go

Treatment options recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) must be readily available for use in the NHS of England and Wales. This article provides an overview of recent guidance from NICE and summary advice issued...

Progress for a more sustainable practice in ophthalmology

Climate change is widely considered to be the greatest threat to health in the 21st century and is accompanied by other environmental considerations such as air and water pollution that impact on human health [1,2]. These problems are, in no...

Paediatric optic disc anomalies

Anomalies of the optic nerve are relatively rare, but account for a significant proportion of sight impairment in children and adults. The recognition of these anomalies by eye health professionals is important not only due to their potential impact on...

Safety and efficacy of a nurse-led intravitreal injection service using an Precivia® injection assist device

Nurse-led intravitreal injections have become of great importance for busy eye units. In this article, the authors present safety data from five years of a nurse-led service with the use of the Precivia® intravitreal injection assist device. Intravitreal injections of...

Assessing everyday visual function in dry AMD – what matters to the person?

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the primary cause of blindness in the developed world and is accountable for more than one half of sight impairment registrations within England and Wales [1]. AMD is prevalent in people aged 60 years and...

Refined glaucoma referral practice offers prospect of improved capacity and expanded role for primary eye care professionals

Glaucoma is the most frequent cause of irreversible blindness worldwide and the second leading cause of blindness in the UK [1,2]. The global prevalence of glaucoma in 2010 was approximately 3.5% for people aged 40-80 years, according to Jonas et...

Paediatric ptosis

Manoj Parulekar and colleagues provide a comprehensive overview of the diagnosis, assessment and management of childhood ptosis. Blepharoptosis (commonly referred to as ptosis – Greek, πτῶσις, ‘to fall’) is a condition where the upper eyelid is in an abnormally low...

Quality matters in the management of serious eye disorders

The author discusses the first quality standard for serious eye disorders from NICE and takes a look at new care models for enhanced service delivery. Patient backlogs pose risks to patient safety, with research showing that people are losing sight...