News & Views

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) Trustee Board wishes to appoint a Lay Trustee to succeed Lord Philip Hunt who completes his term at the end of 2021. We are particularly interested in people with knowledge of government, health policy and devising strategy who have demonstrated a commitment to equality.

In this episode we speak with Ocular Oncologist and Consultant Ophthalmologist Bertil Damato and A&E Service Director, deputy director of education and Consultant Ophthalmologist Gordon Hay both from Moorfields about the MOLES system; a scoring system used to risk stratify choroidal lesions.

A new report published today reviews the role of multi-professional teams during the pandemic and considers how the members of different occupational groups came together to deliver care differently. Multi-professional team-working - the experience and lessons from COVID-19 published by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AOMRC) focuses on lessons learned about the enablers for and barriers to effective multi-professional team-working.

A new document from the National Eye Care Recovery and Transformation Programme Team sets out the current courses and qualifications (including core professional skills) for registered eye health care professionals and how they relate to service capabilities that provide safe patient care.

Collaboration between The Royal College of Ophthalmologists and Bausch + Lomb ensures access to latest cutting-edge equipment for phaco surgery Five Stellaris Elite™ vision enhancement systems installed as part of Royal College’s Surgical Skills Centre.

The National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellow scheme is run by the Faculty of Medical Leadership & Management (FMLM) and places fellows at a national healthcare-affiliated host organisation for a full-time 12-month position. The scheme is designed to develop skills in leadership, management, strategy, project management, and health policy. For those of you interested in a portfolio career, this interest area is an alternative to the traditional routes of research and teaching.

The Vice President of The Royal College of Ophthalmologists is a pivotal role with a wide portfolio of responsibilities. As Vice President, you will work closely with the President to advocate for the RCOphth as a membership body, fulfilling its purpose in supporting the needs of members to make a sustainable difference to the profession and patient care.

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists is proud to be supporting World Sight Day 2021 with the theme #Loveyoureyes. World Sight Day is an opportunity for everyone to be aware of eye health and the impact of sight loss. Globally, at least 1 billion people have near or distance vision impairment that could be prevented or has yet to be addressed.

A joint parliamentary select committee report published yesterday has assessed some of the key decisions the UK has taken during the pandemic and lessons that needed to be learnt. While acknowledging there were some areas where the UK performed well, such as vaccine development and rollout, the report overall is very critical of the UK approach. These criticisms include ‘a degree of groupthink’ on the initial decisions taken on lockdowns and social distancing and stopping community testing early in the pandemic being a ‘serious mistake’. The report also importantly emphasised that a lack of NHS capacity was a significant problem.

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) has produced a new draft clinical guideline on the management of Angle-Closure Glaucoma. This has been developed through a guideline development group (GDG) chaired by Professor Paul Foster. The College would now welcome any comments or observations on the content, format, or recommendations in this new guidance, to help contribute to and influence the final guideline.