Read the latest RCOphth news updates and guidance here.
This month saw the launch of the National Clinical Strategy for Ophthalmology for Wales. Our Llywydd (lead for the College in Wales) Rhianon Reynolds was instrumental in the strategy’s development. In this exclusive blog she discusses the lessons she learnt from the process and outlines why she thinks the strategy can be valuable for all eye care professionals, not just those working in Wales.
Launched on 14 October, the National Clinical Strategy for Ophthalmology presents a clinically-led case for a new model of eye care across Wales. College Llywydd Rhianon Reynolds, who is also National Clinical lead for Ophthalmology in Wales and a consultant ophthalmologist at Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, led on the development of the strategy. Here she highlights 10 facts about the strategy that all College members should be aware of.
Senior Policy and Public Affairs Officer Greg Ellwood-Hughes analyses the implications for ophthalmology services.
Read our latest coverage from June-July 2024, which included mentions in the Guardian and Health Service Journal (HSJ). Our active engagement with the media reflects our commitment to raising awareness about critical issues, advocating for reform, and increasing the profile of ophthalmology.
The safety of cataract surgery in the UK is continuing to improve, results from the latest National Ophthalmology Database (NOD) audit – published today – show. Data gathered from 177 centres over a 12-month period to 31 March 2023 indicate that fewer than 1 in 200 patients experience substantial reduction in vision following cataract surgery. The major complication of surgery (posterior capsule rupture or PCR) is occurring in less than 1% of operations.
As the latest National Ophthalmology Audit (NOD) age-related macular degeneration (AMD) audit report is published, its clinical lead, Martin McKibbin, is encouraging more ophthalmology services to take part in future audits so that more data on the care pathway is available and treatment outcomes can be standardised.
News release issued by LOCSU, the Local Optical Committee Support Unit: A new standard clinical specification for community minor and urgent eye care, which aims to assure, support and enhance access to minor and urgent eye care locally across England, has been published today.
This week (19 – 23 June) is Clinical Audit Awareness Week, a national annual campaign that promotes and celebrates the impact of clinical audits in healthcare. RCOphth runs the world renowned National Ophthalmology Database Audit and is recognised by clinicians, NICE, GIRFT and industry as an important safety and research tool that is used to audit the treatment of cataracts and recently has added the potentially blinding disease of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) to its work.
The Royal College of Ophthalmologists last week hosted a webinar with King’s Mill Hospital Ophthalmology Department and NHS England’s Outpatient Recovery and Transformation team to explore how ophthalmology patient-initiated follow-up (PIFU) can be successfully implemented. The session, held following the publication of the King’s Mill PIFU case study and attended by almost 100 people from a range of professions, saw an expert panel deliver presentations on the role PIFU can play in increasing capacity as part of a wider set of actions, followed by an audience Q&A.
The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) and the ophthalmology department at King’s Mill district general hospital (DGH) collaborated on a case study detailing how King’s Mill developed its patient initiated follow up (PIFU) offering in general ophthalmology, and the impact it has had on unit capacity and patient outcomes, as part of a wider set of actions.
