Ophthalmology
HealthHarmonie’s Ophthalmology Service provides a community service that is used by GPs and local Optometrists as an alternative to referring patients to an NHS Hospital out-patient department.
In a community health centre, Consultant Opthalmologists assess, diagnose and manage patients in need of non-invasive ophthalmology treatment in a single appointment (where appropriate).
The aims of the service are to:
- improve health outcomes through earlier diagnosis and treatment of common ophthalmology conditions
- reduce the number of referrals, so far as clinically appropriate, to secondary care
- provide appropriate community based alternatives to acute hospital care
- to provide a “one stop” service that incorporates diagnostic testing and treatment during a single visit (where appropriate)
- ensure patients are offered an outpatient appointment with a consultant that takes place in the community within 4 weeks of being referred
- provide ophthalmology services that is responsive to the needs of the local patient population
- improve patient satisfaction that acts on patient feedback
- reduce DNA’s for outpatient appointments by provision of a more local service
- reduce the cost of Ophthalmology Outpatient activity to practice based commissioning budgets, thus supporting the PCT in achieving financial balance
- move of a proportion of New and Follow-Up Ophthalmology Outpatient attendances to the community
- ensure that all referrals are triaged within 48 hours of being received and that inappropriate referrals are returned to the referring GP/Optometrist with feedback
- maintain onward referral rates of less than 10% of new referrals
- provide a consultant-led service giving sufficient autonomy to clinicians to make decisions on diagnosis/management thus reducing the need for onward referral to secondary care or further specialist opinion
- deliver of a cost-effective service
- maintain stakeholder and patient satisfaction rates of no less than 95%
- maintain DNA’s rates of no more than 5% of overall activity
- to target stable Glaucoma patients that are currently under hospital follow-up care and offer them a choice of community follow-up (where clinically appropriate)