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Showing results for tags 'Medicine - Ophthalmology'.
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Content Article
Patient safety is a global health priority, yet there is limited research into how ophthalmology is responding to this. There is evidence that a review of patient harm related to eye care and the associated patient safety incidents is needed. This study aimed to characterise patient safety incidents involving eye care by: identifying the most frequently reported incidents involving clinical care; and characterising the nature of incidents leading to severe vision loss. Of the 836 reports identified, insufficient care (416) and delayed diagnosis (234) featured most. Patient harm occurred related to vision loss (449), delays in treatment (182) and disease progression (121). Among 220 reports that resulted in severe vision loss, patients with glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration were impacted by delays in monitoring and management, loss to follow-up, disease progression due to insufficient care and system failures.- Posted
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News Article
NHS eye care delays put complex cases at risk
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Patients with complex eye conditions risk losing their sight due to delays in NHS treatment, medical experts and campaigners have warned. They say the system is under strain as independent providers prioritise simpler and more lucrative procedures. Dr Ben Burton, the president of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, said NHS ophthalmology services are "on the brink of collapse". Labour MP and former surgeon Dr Peter Prinsley warned that some regions could become "ophthalmic deserts" due to inadequate coverage. The crisis is partly driven by a rise in fees paid by the NHS to independent providers for cataract surgery in recent years, according to Prinsley. The speed of basic cataract procedures means several can be carried out in a day by consultants, which has proven lucrative, he added. This has led to increasing numbers of NHS consultants taking on more private work, including setting up clinics near hospitals which can carry out work for the NHS, he told the Press Association (PA). It means fewer NHS appointments are available for patients with more complex conditions, such as glaucoma or macular degeneration. Burton said the problem was reaching a crisis point, telling PA: "We're heading off a cliff, it's not sustainable, and it's not safe. It's been something I think somebody needs to take a step back on and see the bigger picture of." Read full story Source: Medscape UK, 3 March 2025 -
Content Article
University Hospital Derby and Burton NHS Trust (UHDB) partnered with TPXimpact to make an informed choice in procuring the right electronic patient record system for the Ophthalmology team and make recommendations on implementing it successfully.- Posted
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News Article
Eye patients pay for private treatment – or risk going blind in NHS backlog
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Patients are being forced to pay for urgent eye care or risk going blind because of long NHS waits. MPs will today hear the scale of the “emergency” with four in five high street optometrists revealing their patients have paid for private procedures in the past six months. Dame Andrea Leadsom, the former House of Commons leader, business secretary and environment secretary, is being called on to commit to improving NHS eye care in her new role as public health minister. Four in five optometrists say they have patients waiting more than a year to be referred for an NHS appointment or treatment, according to analysis by the Association of Optometrists (AOP), leaving them at risk of going blind. About 640,000 people are waiting for an NHS ophthalmology appointment, more than any other speciality – accounting for about one in 11 people on the 7.8 million waiting list. About half of these people say their sight is deteriorating while they wait to be seen. Tens of thousands have been waiting more than a year, the AOP said. In a letter to Dame Leadsom, Adam Sampson, the chief executive of the AOP, said that high street optometrists should be used more widely across the NHS for “cataract surgery, help for glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration”. Mr Sampson said: “With the expansion of primary eye care services, more patients will have a better chance of receiving improved treatment, faster and locally, which could prevent avoidable irreversible sight loss.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: The Telegraph, 23 November 2023- Posted
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News Article
USA: Walgreens and CVS warned about selling illegal eye products
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent warning letters to pharmacy chains Walgreens and CVS accusing them of illegally marketing eye care products. The FDA’s warning letters said the products in question, which were falsely labelled as potential treatments for conditions like glaucoma, cataracts, and pink eye, should be modified if the companies and manufacturers that make and distribute them want to avoid legal action. “The FDA is committed to ensuring the medicines Americans take are safe, effective and of high quality,” Jill Furman, Director of the Office of Compliance at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement. “When we identify illegally marketed, unapproved drugs and lapses in drug quality that pose potential risks, the FDA works to notify the companies involved of the violations.” Ms Furman wrote in the letter sent to Walgreens: “Your ‘Walgreens Allergy Eye Drops,’ ‘Walgreens Stye Eye Drops,’ and ‘Walgreens Pink Eye Drops’ products are especially concerning from a public health perspective. Ophthalmic drug products, which are intended for administration into the eyes … pose a greater risk of harm to users because the route of administration for these products bypasses some of the body’s natural defences.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 21 September 2023- Posted
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News Article
Hull cataract patient brings legal action over vision loss
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A man claims he lost his sight in one eye after routine cataract surgery left him in "unbelievable" pain. John Stabler, from East Yorkshire, is set to sue the maker of an artificial lens he had fitted last year and which was later recalled over safety fears. The 63-year-old said he felt like he had been hit "with a sledgehammer" after the operation and had suffered "catastrophic" loss of income. Manufacturer Nidek said it "profoundly regrets" any patient suffering. Mr Stabler is one of 14 patients seeking compensation over the company's EyeCee One Preloaded lens. He said he had suffered permanent nerve damage to his left eye after having the lens fitted at Hull and East Yorkshire Eye Hospital in October last year. He told the BBC: "About two days after, I was getting really bad pain. It was unbelievable. It was like someone was hitting me with a sledgehammer." NHS England issued a safety alert in January 2023 after Nidek announced a "voluntary and precautionary" global product recall of its EyeCee One and EyeCee One Crystal intraocular lenses. UK distributor Bausch + Lomb said there has been "a limited number of reports of elevated intraocular pressure in patients". Read full story Source: BBC News, 19 September 2023- Posted
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News Article
At least 20 patients have suffered harm due to their follow-up appointments not being booked at a hospital department where people ‘continue to come to harm’, according to an internal review. Torbay and South Devon Foundation Trust is reviewing its ophthalmology service after 22 people were harmed following “system failures” with their follow-up appointments. The trust’s initial investigation, obtained by HSJ with the Freedom of Information Act, warned there were “potentially” other patients affected by the failures who had not yet been identified. In response, the trust said its ophthalmology department had already “undertaken a significant amount of work to address a large proportion of the actions arising from the review”, including building another operating theatre and recruiting more staff. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 August 2023- Posted
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- Medicine - Ophthalmology
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News Article
Videos circulating on the social media platform claim that castor oil can help to treat dryness, floaters, cataracts, poor vision and even glaucoma. Doctors have issued a warning not to use castor oil as a way to treat vision problems following claims on TikTok. Castor oil is a type of vegetable oil traditionally used to treat a range of issues like skin infections. It is even a common ingredient in some over-the-counter eye drops. But dozens of TikTok videos have gone one step further, claiming that by rubbing the oil over eyelids, eyelashes and under the eye, it helps to treat dryness, floaters, cataracts, poor vision and even glaucoma. One woman said that after two weeks of use, she doesn't need to wear reading glasses as often, while another said it prevented an eye infection from progressing. Now, doctors in the US have said the oil is "not going to seep in and dissolve or fix anything". They warned that some unsterilised bottles on shop shelves may even cause irritation or infection if put directly into the eye. "Castor oil is not a cure-all. If you have concerns about your eyes, you need to see an optician," Dr Ashley Brissette, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. She said they cannot make recommendations as studies that look at the effects of eye drops which contain castor oil on dry eyes and blepharitis are of low quality, involving small sample sizes and no control groups. Dr Vicki Chan, a practising optician in Los Angeles added that castor oil has no effect on conditions that affect the inside of the eyeball. These include cataracts - an age-related condition that causes cloudy vision - floaters, and glaucoma, which occurs when fluid accumulates and damages the optic nerve. Dr Brissette added that ignoring early symptoms of glaucoma, or waiting to see it castor oil improves conditions such as cataract, can lead to permanent vision loss or complications with surgery. Instead, eating a healthy balanced diet; removing all make up before bed; wearing sunglasses outdoors and attending regular eye examinations are alternative ways to maintain eye health. -
News Article
AI makes retinal imaging 100 times faster
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health applied artificial intelligence (AI) to a technique that produces high-resolution images of cells in the eye. They report that with AI, imaging is 100 times faster and improves image contrast 3.5-fold. The advance, they say, will provide researchers with a better tool to evaluate age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other retinal diseases. "Artificial intelligence helps overcome a key limitation of imaging cells in the retina, which is time," said Johnny Tam, Ph.D., who leads the Clinical and Translational Imaging Section at NIH's National Eye Institute. Tam is developing a technology called adaptive optics (AO) to improve imaging devices based on optical coherence tomography (OCT). Like ultrasound, OCT is noninvasive, quick, painless, and standard equipment in most eye clinics. "Our results suggest that AI can fundamentally change how images are captured," said Tam. "Our P-GAN artificial intelligence will make AO imaging more accessible for routine clinical applications and for studies aimed at understanding the structure, function, and pathophysiology of blinding retinal diseases. Thinking about AI as a part of the overall imaging system, as opposed to a tool that is only applied after images have been captured, is a paradigm shift for the field of AI." Read full story Source: Digital Health News, 11 April 2024- Posted
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News Article
Blind people in England at risk from ‘shocking’ social care delays, finds report
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The lives of thousands of blind and partially sighted people are being put at risk by delays in vital care that they have a legal right to after being assessed as visually impaired, according to a report. More than a quarter of English councils are leaving people who have just been diagnosed as blind waiting more than a year for vision rehabilitation assessments and potentially life-saving support, the report by the RNIB revealed. It cited the example of one person who died while waiting for council help. The Guardian can reveal that the case involved a woman from Church Stretton in Shropshire who had been waiting 18 months for an assessment when she tripped on a pothole and died later from head injuries. She had been trying to teach herself how to use a white cane, without any support or training, despite getting a certificate of visual impairment. Councils are obliged to provide such help for those coping with a recent visual impairment under the 2014 Care Act. The support involves helping people cope practically and mentally with visual impairment at a critical time after a diagnosis. The social care ombudsman recommends that councils should provide these services within 28 days of someone receiving a certificate of visual impairment. But the RNIB report, which is based on freedom of information requests to councils in England, found that 86% were missing this 28-day deadline. The report, Out of sight – The hidden scandal of vision rehabilitation warned that the delays uncovered in the figures were dangerous. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 10 March 2024- Posted
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News Article
Surgeon claims Bath's RUH 'covered up' patient blinding
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
A surgeon sacked by a hospital after raising safety concerns has accused the trust of a cover-up after a patient was partially blinded during an operation. Juanita Graham, 41, lost the sight in her left eye during an operation at Bath's Royal United Hospital (RUH) in 2019. She is now suing the trust. Serryth Colbert said he was put down as the lead author on an investigation into the incident, but said he "did not write a word" of it. Mr Colbert has described the hospital investigation into Mrs Graham's operation as "deeply flawed". The surgeon, who specialises in the head, neck, face and jaw, has made several serious allegations about patient safety at the RUH, and believes these claims led to him being regarded as a troublemaker and dismissed in October 2023. Mrs Graham, from Trowbridge, said she was still traumatised by the operation on her eye. "I remember coming round, seeing the time and felt like a gush and I couldn't see," she said. "The next time I remember waking up again, I thought it was my partner but it was a surgeon and he was crying. I said 'what's gone wrong?'". After the operation, a Root Cause Analyses (RCA) report produced by the trust said the hospital was not to blame, although it did say the risks could have been explained more clearly to Mrs Graham. Mr Colbert, whose name was added as the lead investigator, said his only involvement in the report was when he was called on the phone by a nurse, who he said did the RCA, to explain what the operation involved. The 48-year-old surgeon said: "I have been put down here to my amazement as the lead author on this. "That is not correct. I did not write a word of this. "The conclusion is the root cause of the complication was down to a bit of paperwork which could have been performed a bit better. "The root cause was not down to paperwork. It was all covered up... that was indefensible." Read full story Source: BBC News, 29 February 2024- Posted
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News Article
A woman has become blind after her monthly eye injections were delayed for four months during lockdown. Helen Jeremy, 73, said everything she enjoyed doing has "gone out of the window" after losing her eyesight. She has glaucoma and was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration four years ago. Monthly injections controlled the condition and meant she could still drive and play the piano. However, her appointments were cancelled when the pandemic struck and her eyesight deteriorated. "I was panicking. It was terrifying. Because I'm a widow I'm on my own and it was awful," she said. "Suddenly my eyesight was basically gone. By the time of my next appointment I was told there was no point in going on with these injections because the damage had been done to the back of my eye." Thousands more people in Wales are at risk of "irreversible sight loss" because of treatment delays, RNIB Cymru warns. The Welsh Government said health boards are working to increase services. Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 November 2020- Posted
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Labour demands new NHS investment as patients wait longer for surgery
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Labour is demanding new investment for the NHS as part of the government’s spending review next week, after analysis shows hundreds of thousands of patients are waiting for life-changing operations. The party’s shadow health secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, will challenge Matt Hancock in Parliament on today over the latest NHS data, which reveal almost 500,000 patients are waiting for surgery on their hips, knees and other bones. Last week, NHS England published new data showing more than 1.7 million people were waiting longer than the NHS target of 18-weeks for treatment. The target was last met in February 2016. An analysis of NHS England data reveal which specialities have been hardest hit by the growing backlog of operations, which has soared since the first wave of coronavirus caused widespread hospital cancellations earlier this year. There were 4.3 million patients on NHS waiting lists for hospital treatments in September. Labour said this included 477,250 waiting for trauma and orthopaedic surgery, with 252,247 patients waiting over 18 weeks. The next worst specialty was ophthalmology, which treats eye disorders, with 444,828 patients on waiting lists, 233,425 of whom have waited more than 18 weeks. There were six figure waiting lists over 18 weeks for other specialties including gynaecology, urology, general surgery, and ear, nose and throat patients. Read full story Source: 17 November 2020 -
Content Article
The pandemic has impacted on all aspects of NHS care, with elective and diagnostic activities among those services that have been disrupted. This has led to a considerable backlog of people waiting for NHS treatment. This briefing, from the NHS Confederation, explores what lies ahead for the health service and patients, based on their modelling of referral-to-treatment waiting trajectories in 2021. It offers an outline policy framework, drawn up by their members, for starting to reduce waiting lists in an effective, equitable and efficient way. Key points: The sustained impact of the pandemic will leave a backlog of care in excess of anything seen over the last 12 years. Although urgent and emergency procedures have largely been maintained, much of the growth in waiting lists comes from low priority, high-volume procedures for conditions ranging from painful bone and joint conditions, to ear, nose and throat and ophthalmology. Our modelling suggests that to maintain any sense of control over the NHS waiting list, the NHS will need to increase capacity considerably above levels than have previously been sustained. Our members are embracing best practice, as represented by the Getting It Right First Time programme (GIRFT), and innovating to support waiting list management but will need further support to make inroads into the backlog. The existing framework for elective care, which is based around organisations and tariff, is widely accepted as not being fit for purpose to resolve growing lists and the increasing backlog. Without a comprehensive new plan, the government faces the politically unacceptable legacy of hundreds of thousands of patients left on waiting lists with deteriorating conditions for the remainder of the parliament. Our members want to see whole-system thinking to manage waiting lists between trusts, and deeper partnerships with primary and community care, supported by real-time patient data. Small amounts of quick capital will help to create ‘hot and cold’ hospital sites, which will increase efficiency, while funding support for the voluntary sector will help patients to receive more care and support as they wait for their procedures. The intensity of the pandemic response has had a marked impact on NHS staff and left the healthcare workforce in a fragile state. In many areas, the same group of staff who have worked through the pandemic, and who are delivering the vaccination programme, will be asked to step up once again to recover backlogs. Any plan that fails to recognise this is unlikely to succeed. The additional £1bn agreed in the Spending Review for 2021/22 will not be enough to clear the backlog. The healthcare sector will need honesty from political leaders to help manage the inevitable change in public opinion when there are further delays in treatment. By creating a long-term framework for the recovery of elective care that is efficient, patient focused and equitable, the NHS can make fast progress on recovering its elective care position. As part of that, it will be important to rethink the way that waiting lists are measured, as many of the performance standards are no longer fit for purpose. This briefing focuses on the elective backlog. Similar pressures will be faced across the NHS, from a surge in demand for mental health support, to increased need for community services and increased demand on primary care. While our members are innovating and driving service improvement at local level, more support is required from government in its public messaging. This would help the NHS to clarify priorities and facilitate an honest public debate on the scale of the challenge and the measures to resolve it. Download the full briefing via the link below or the attached document.- Posted
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Content Article
NHSX's Innovation Team has released its latest digital playbook which focuses on eye care and directs clinicians and organisations to digital tools that can support patient pathways. The resource, which is extensive and features numerous case studies, can be used by eye care specialists looking to digitally enhance their ophthalmology pathways, remote monitoring and sharing of diagnostics. Areas and scenarios covered in the eyecare playbook include examples of digital tools and solutions to help with communication, improving referrals, setting up virtual clinics, remote consultations and self-monitoring, as well as sharing clinical data and images. A step-by-step, recommended eye care pathway is also featured covering stages from primary care, referrals and diagnostics, through to outpatients and day surgery, and finally, community care and supported self-care. Some of the innovative case studies featured include examples from: NHS Grampian’s Eye Health Network Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS FT County Durham and Darlington NHS FT The Royal College of Ophthalmologists Bolton NHS Trust FT East Kent Hospitals University NHS FT Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS FT The University of Strathclyde and NHS Forth Valley Digital tools and solutions highlighted stretch from home visual acuity testing and remote vision monitoring for macular disease, through to secure video messaging service examples, smartphone-based lenses for image capturing and referrals, virtual glaucoma clinics, and integration platforms.- Posted
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The need for social distancing midst the COVID-19 pandemic has forced ophthalmologists to innovate with telemedicine. The novel process of triaging emergency ophthalmology patients via video consultations should reduce hospital attendances. However, the safety profile of such services were unknown. This study, published by EClinicalMedicine, demonstrates comparable patient safety of video consultations at one-month follow-up to in person review and found the service to be acceptable to patients and to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Authors propose that video consultations are effective and desirable as a tool for triage in ophthalmology. -
News Article
Coronavirus: Eyes could be contagious for weeks, study finds
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The coronavirus can linger in patients’ eyes for several weeks and could act as a way of spreading the COVID-19 disease, according new study from Italy. Scientists at Italy’s National Institute for Infectious Diseases hospital in Rome studied the symptoms of an unnamed 65-year-old woman who developed the virus after travelling from the Chinese city of from Wuhan. When the woman developed conjunctivitis – an eye infection causing redness and itchiness – doctors decided to take regular swabs from her eye. They discovered the virus remained present in “ocular samples” up to 21 days after she was admitted to hospital. The team said the findings, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, indicated that eye fluids from coronavirus patients “may be a potential source of infection”. The study authors said: “These findings highlight the importance of control measures, such as avoiding touching the nose, mouth, and eyes and frequent hand washing.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 24 April 2020- Posted
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News Article
Patient had wrong eye injected after software error
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Herefordshire clinicians injected a patient in the wrong eye after a technical blunder, board papers have revealed. The Wye Valley Trust patient was injected with an antivascular endothelial growth factor to treat age-related macular degeneration. They did not come to harm as a result of the incident. The mistake occurred after the ophthalmology department deleted a poor quality image of one of the patient’s eyes. This shifted up the other images, which were stored sequentially using software called IMAGEnet6, which led to the mistake. Although initially reported as a “never event,” the incident was downgraded to a “serious incident” after a review by the Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The trust, which is still using the software, is updating its standard operating procedure and has installed new technology that can take higher quality images. A spokesman said: “Patient safety is the trust’s priority. While no harm was caused to this patient, the trust has taken this incident seriously.” Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 21 January 2020- Posted
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News Article
Delays to follow-up appointments for glaucoma patients leaves them at risk of sight loss, the Healthcare Investigation Safety Branch (HSIB) warns in their new report. The report highlights the case of a 34-year old woman who lost her sight as a result of 13 months of delays to follow-up appointments. Lack of timely follow-up for glaucoma patients is a recognised national issue across the NHS. Research suggests that around 22 patients a month will suffer severe or permanent sight loss as a result of the delays. In HSIB’s reference case, the patient saw seven different ophthalmologists and the time between her initial referral to hospital eye services (HES) and laser eye surgery was 11 months. By this time her sight had deteriorated so badly, she was registered as severely sight impaired. The investigation identified that there is inadequate HES capacity to meet demand for glaucoma services, and that better, smarter ways of working should be implemented to maximise the current capacity. The report makes several safety recommendations focused on the management and prioritisation of appointments. Helen Lee, RNIB Policy and Campaigns Manager, said: “This report has brought vital attention to a serious and dangerous lack of specialist staff and space in NHS ophthalmology services across the country. We know that thousands of patients in England are experiencing delays in time-critical eye care appointments, which is leading to irreversible sight loss for some." “Without immediate action, the situation will only continue to deteriorate as the demand for appointments increases. RNIB urges full and immediate implementation of the recommendations set out in this report to improve the capacity, efficiency and effectiveness of ophthalmology services.” Read full story Source: HSIB, 9 January 2020- Posted
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Content Article
Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) is designed to improve the quality of care within the NHS by reducing unwarranted variations. By tackling variations in the way services are delivered across the NHS, and by sharing best practice between trusts, GIRFT identifies changes that will help improve care and patient outcomes, as well as delivering efficiencies such as the reduction of unnecessary procedures and cost savings. This report seeks to address the challenge of rising demand for NHS ophthalmology services due to an ageing population. Ophthalmology provides over 7.5 million outpatient appointments a year, making it the the highest volume outpatient specialty in England. It also provides more than half a million surgical procedures, including the most common operation offered on the NHS - cataract surgery. The GIRFT Ophthalmology report makes 22 recommendations that focus on: freeing up capacity so that more patients can be seen. reducing reliance on consultant care by making greater use of the wider team. reducing the risk of avoidable sight loss and protecting people's vision. Watch a short video summary of the report -
Content Article
Diabetic eye screening (DESP) is a national programme which is designed to pick up changes in the retina, at the back of the eye, in people with diabetes. These changes, known as diabetic retinopathy, are usually detected long before eyesight is affected. The goal of screening is to find people with sight threatening retinopathy, so that advice and treatment can be offered to prevent sight loss, as diabetic retinopathy is one of the leading causes of blindness in the UK. In this presentation, Dr Elizabeth Wilkinson, Clinical Lead Devon DESP, discusses harm in diabetic eye screening,what a clinical harm review is and communication, including Duty of Candour.- Posted
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News Article
NHS Trust introduces artificial intelligence for monitoring eye health
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust has adopted artificial intelligence (AI) to test the health of patient’s eyes. In collaboration with doctors at the trust, the University of Kent has developed AI computer software able to detect signs of eye disease. Patients will benefit from a machine-based method that compares new images of the eye with previous patient images to monitor clinical signs and notify the doctor if their condition has worsened. Nishal Patel, an Ophthalmology Consultant at the Trust and teacher at the University said: “We are seeing more and more people with retinal disease and machines can help with some of the capacity issues faced by our department and others across the country." “We are not taking the job of a doctor away, but we are making it more efficient and at the same time helping determine how artificial intelligence will shape the future medicine. By automating some of the decisions, so that stable patients can be monitored and unstable patients treated earlier, we can offer better outcomes for our patients.” Read full story Source: National Health Executive, 22 November 2019 -
News Article
Proposals for primary care networks to evolve into more collaborative “integrated neighbourhood teams” to improve access to care have been broadly welcomed. A “stocktake” report commissioned by NHS England, published on 26 May, called for urgent same day appointments to be dealt with by “single, urgent care teams” for every neighbourhood with greater use of a range of health and social care professionals. The report, written by Claire Fuller, a general practitioner and chief executive of Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care System, undertaken by Dr Claire Fuller, Chief Executive-designate Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care System and GP on integrated primary care, looks at what is working well, why it’s working well and how we can accelerate the implementation of integrated primary care (incorporating the current 4 pillars of general practice, community pharmacy, dentistry and optometry) across systems. Doctors’ leaders welcomed many of the report’s recommendations but emphasised that they could only work if the government resourced primary care practices better and tackled workforce shortages. Read full story (paywalled) Source: BMJ, 27 May 2022 -
Content Article
In this research paper published in the Nature journal Eye, Foot and MacEwen determine the frequency of patients suffering harm due to delay in ophthalmic care in the UK over a 12-month period. They found that patients were suffering preventable harm due to health service initiated delay leading to permanently reduced vision. This was occurring in patients of all ages, but most consistently in those with chronic conditions. Delayed follow-up or review is the cause in the majority of cases indicating a lack of capacity within the hospital eye service. -
Content Article
The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) issued guidance on preventing delay to follow up for patients with glaucoma [NPSA/2009/RRR004]. This followed evidence of harm to patients with glaucoma suffering visual loss after delays to follow up appointments. This came to light from incidents reported by staff in the NHS relating to glaucoma. This paper provides background information and a checklist for organisations to help implement actions in the accompanying guidance to prevent harm from delayed follow-up appointments for patients with glaucoma. It presents details of incident data and litigation data. This work was supported by an interactive event in March 2009 with input from ophthalmic surgeons (and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists), nurses, service managers and patient representatives. Key recommendations from the report Treating clinicians should ensure that all people with ocular hypertension or suspected or diagnosed glaucoma are monitored within the monitoring intervals outlined in the NICE glaucoma guideline, and none of these monitoring appointments should be delayed or cancelled.- Posted
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