Search

Developing community eye care: the evolution of Wales’ eye care services

In the third in our series about community eye care in the home nations, David O’Sullivan explains how Wales has developed its community eye care services. Since the devolution of healthcare to Wales on 1 July 1999 [1], significant changes...

Development of retinoblastoma services in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe recognised the need for a paediatric ophthalmology service almost 20 years ago. The economic uncertainty in the country made it difficult to secure financial support, so initial funding came through local donors. Equipment – including vision charts, ophthalmoscopes and...

Pituitary tumours: why are they so often missed?

Part 1: Introduction, historical background and Edinburgh connections (see also Part 2 and Part 3) Is there any ophthalmologist who has not missed a pituitary tumour? Hopefully this article will help those currently in practice to avoid such an embarrassment,...

A pituitary tumour from 1927

The author shares a clinical case from Edinburgh Royal Infirmary’s archives. It is not often in the course of a clinical career that one gets the opportunity to review a patient who had been treated by a pioneer neurosurgeon some...

The last three patients: dermatology (Patient Three)

For the third and final reflection in this series (see Part 1 and Part 2), Professor Jonathan Rees recounts his experience of a patient with cancer who was failed by the NHS, and how their inadequate treatment illuminates some issues...

Developing a unified approach to low-vision care

RNIB’s Preeti Singla and Louise Gow introduce the Adult Low Vision Service Quality Framework. For individuals living with visual impairment, access to high-quality low vision services can be life changing. Yet, across the UK, these services remain fragmented, with significant...

The miracle of multi-professional working in modern-day eyecare

"It’s a Tuesday morning, and I’m in the presence of one of the most mind-boggling accomplishments in human history. This thing is so astounding in its complexity and scope, it makes the Panama Canal look like a third grader’s craft...

The influence of refraction correction in swept source AS-OCT measurement parameters

Anterior segment (AS) optical coherence tomography (OCT) is the non-invasive technique used to analyse detailed cross-sectional images of the anterior structures of the eye. Swept source (SS) OCT at 1310nm can penetrate deeply into the eye with low levels of...

Broadening of treatment options for potentially blinding retinal conditions

Rod McNeil provides an update on a promising bispecific antibody recently approved for treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and diabetic macular oedema (DMO) and considers emerging developments in biosimilars to established anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapies, including...

Diabetic retinopathy screening in Belize: a country’s journey towards reducing blindness from DR

The rise of diabetes mellitus (DM) and its complications is a public health concern in the Caribbean. The Caribbean Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) Programme, managed by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and funded by the Queen Elizabeth...

Eye Capacity: clinical need should drive ophthalmic service provision

Almost two million people in the UK suffer sight loss, a number forecast to double over coming decades. Major causes of blindness are age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, cataract and uncorrected refractive error. Prevalence of these sight-threatening conditions...

Ambitions for sustainable service recovery amidst an escalating post-COVID backlog

Rod McNeil reviews plans, activity and solutions to better address the post-COVID backlog and bolster sustainable service recovery. Ophthalmology was the busiest outpatient specialty during the three years to March 2020 across the English NHS and again recorded the highest...