This updated guidance is for commissioners/ integrated care boards, providers, social care, charitable organisations and users of the age-related macular degeneration (AMD) services, including their families and carers.
AMD is the most common cause of visual impairment in the older population significantly affecting their quality of life and independence.
Our previously published guidance for AMD services provided the evidence-based definitions, care pathways and therapies that were available in 2021. This is an update of this guidance due to continuing changes in various service pathways and new drugs being licensed and made available for neovascular AMD.
The Integrated Care System has facilitated services to work closely with system partners including charitable organisations, primary eye care / optometry community services and the independent sector and this guidance closely reflects this integration and highlight the areas that need commissioning, if not already commissioned.
There are more treatment options that have been made available in the UK and hence there are more choice for patients and providers and this guidance has updated these choices and their regimens.
In this update, we have also emphasized the need to provide data to our National Ophthalmology Database (NOD) audit for AMD and this is applicable to all types of providers. The AMD NOD audits are aimed to improve access, quality standards and ensure a patient centred approach to care across the UK.
The full AMD-Commissioning-Guidance-Evidence-Base-May-2024 underpinning the recommendations is also available.