News & Views

NHS England (NHSE) has published Eyecare Planning & Implementation guidance for this financial year (2021-2022). The guidance is for NHS Regions, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) moving to Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), and NHS Trusts (hospital eye services). Read the Eye Care Planning Implementation Guidance 2021-22 Summary Annexe.  This new guidance is an annexe to NHS England’s main 2021/22 priorities and operational planning guidance already published in March 2021.

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) is delighted to announce that the National Ophthalmology Database (NOD) Audit: Age-Related Macular Degeneration has now received funding for three years, enabling this important programme of long-term research and data gathering to begin. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) remains a leading cause of sight impairment despite new treatment options. It is estimated to affect 600,000 people in the UK, with 39,800 patients developing “wet” AMD each year.

The College had considered the recent reports of an increased incidence of Central Venous Sinus Thrombosis (CVST) in the UK and anecdotal cases of retinal vein occlusion (RVO) in the immediate period (28 days) subsequent to COVID vaccination. In view of this potential link, the College asks all UK ophthalmologists to consider reporting possible inoculation related cases to the MHRA using their reporting system.

In this episode, we speak with Pearse Keane, a leader in AI within Ophthalmology and a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital. We talked about the differences between self-driving cars and Ophthalmology when it comes to machine learning. We took a deep dive into what the future might hold for the real world application of AI in our specialty and what the barriers might be.

In this episode, we speak with Neto Rosatelli, a cataract surgeon and YouTube channel host from Brazil. He shares his experiences in Ophthalmology, including his journey of becoming a high volume cataract surgeon and provides advice for junior ophthalmologists on how to develop surgical skills and efficiency. Neto will be speaking at the 2021 College Congress at the Ophthalmologists in Training Group (OTG).

Boric acid and disodium tetraborate are used as excipients in a number of medicines for their antimicrobial and buffering properties. Toxicity studies in rats identified that testicular toxicity leading to reduced fertility occurs at doses below that which result in damage to other organs. As a result, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended upper limits on the daily exposure to boron-containing excipients, expressed as equivalent doses of elemental boron. For children under 2 years, the limit is 1mg per day and for children aged 2-12 years, the limit is 3mg per day. (Reference: EMA/CHMP 619104/2013).

In this episode, we speak with David Ramsey, an Ophthalmologist from the Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Beth Israel from Lahey Health, in Massachusetts, USA. We talk about his recent paper, ‘Underdiagnosis of glaucoma in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration’ and discuss whether there is a link between glaucoma and wet-AMD and why that may be.

We are seeking applications for ophthalmologist representatives from the RCOphth membership. As an Advisory Group member, you will support the Clinical Lead and Project manager in developing the national cataract audit. The National Ophthalmology Database Audit (NOD) is internationally renowned as an exemplar of high quality audit that produces results in positive outcomes for patients and the profession. The NOD Cataract audit aims to prospectively collect, collate and analyse a standardised, nationally agreed dataset from all centres providing cataract surgery in the United Kingdom.

In this episode, we speak with Abison Logeswaran, a Tool Digital Fellow and Registrar at Moorfields Eye Hospital and George Saleh, a Consultant Ophthalmologist and the Director of Simulation Training at Moorfields Eye Hospital. We discuss technology, specifically immersive technologies including augmented and virtual reality and how these will shape the future of surgical training in our specialty.

The Cataract Services Workforce Guidance March 2021 includes a RCOphth cataract workforce calculator tool Mar2021 to support workforce planning to meet demand.