This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Virtual eye clinics introduced in Bolton
Patients are set to benefit from a £1 million investment bringing ‘virtual eye clinics’ to Bolton.
Currently many patients have lengthy appointments at the Eye Unit at the Royal Bolton Hospital and are seen by multiple staff including a specialist.
But now patients who need monitoring for glaucoma or wet macular degeneration will be invited to clinics at Waters Meeting Health Centre, where an advanced ophthalmic technician will carry to all the tests and send them electronically to the doctor’s computer for analysis. The results and next steps will be sent to the patient and their GP soon afterwards.
This allows for large numbers of patients to be seen in the community and reduces the length of time that they may wait for an appointment, as well as the appointment time, which is currently two to three hours. This new arrangement will allow doctors to see and treat more patients in the working week.
The innovative new service development has been designed in close collaboration between NHS Bolton CCG and Bolton NHS Foundation Trust.
It is modelled on a successful service running at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.
Kath Smyth, clinical lead for ophthalmology, said: “As the population is living longer, so are we caring for more and more people with eye problems. There are also new treatments for previously untreatable conditions which means we need to see more patients. This new service is a very exciting development for Bolton. It will give much faster expert review for patients via the virtual clinics and free up more capacity to see patients at the Eye Unit. I think it is something of which we can all be very proud.”
Barry Silvert, clinical director of commissioning at NHS Bolton CCG, said: “This is an exciting and transformational change to the way in which hospital eye care is delivered in Bolton. Ophthalmology services are under increasing pressure nationally and Bolton has taken this innovative step. By having co-developed an outcome based clinically sustainable model, Bolton’s eye care services are now fit for the future.”
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