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Community Eyecare Services in Northern Ireland: putting the patient at the centre, improving outcomes and maximising system resource

The UK has four healthcare systems; Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each has autonomous legislature that develops health policy, while the UK government directly runs England’s NHS. Like the other nations, Northern Ireland is continually challenged to meet the needs...

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...

‘The Way Forward’ champions clinicians as architects of patient-centred service redesign

The demographic time bomb poses the dilemma of how more healthcare can be delivered to the UK’s ageing population without commensurate growth in resources. The Way Forward Project provides a robust resource for clinical centres to better identify and implement...

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...

Pathway innovations to address cataract services post-COVID-19

Background The demand for cataract services prior to the COVID-19 pandemic was already recognised to be high and growing - in the face of an ageing population and reduced surgical thresholds. When added to the growth in demand for ophthalmic...

Transferring imaging from primary to secondary care (part 1)

Transferring clinical imaging from high street optometrists to secondary care is an increasingly requested option, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. A wide variety of solutions exist to allow this, each with their own merits and shortcomings. For...

How effective is nurse-led telephone preassessment for cataract surgery?

Cataract surgery is the most frequently performed surgical procedure in the UK [1]. The demand for cataract surgery is projected to increase with ageing population, and the recent pandemic has further contributed to the extended waiting times in the UK....

Plusoptix referral criteria

The authors compared various referral criteria on the same group of patients to determine the sensitivity, specificity and predictive value of each. They also programmed the plusoptix to use the 2013 American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) referral...

Comparison of vision screening programmes

The purpose was to examine the treatment that children underwent as a result of being identified with reduced vision at school screening. The level of improvement in vision was identified and the time taken to achieve maximum visual acuity. There...

The Eye Health Network – an ‘optometry-first’ approach to eye care

Historically, in NHS Grampian, ophthalmology and optometry worked separately, with even the process of optometry referral to hospital occurring only at the behest of the patient’s general practitioner (GP). Criteria for referral were not discussed and feedback after referral was...

A trainee’s guide on how to prepare for the digital age of ophthalmology

As the pandemic rolls on, the past year has left many ophthalmic departments in disarray with ever-lengthening patient waiting-lists and increasing challenges in service delivery. Areas such as virtual clinics, telephone / video consultations have had to mature rapidly to...

Is optician led service an answer to ever increasing demand on eye emergency clinics?

The demand for eye casualty appointments has been steadily increasing in the UK, leading to pressures on the hospital emergency services. The incidence of presentations to eye casualty services has been estimated at 20-30 per 1000 per year [1]. Evidence...