Optegra has launched new NHS glaucoma clinics at its Manchester and Bradford hospitals, expanding beyond its existing cataract and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) services for NHS patients.
The clinics provide appointments within two weeks of referral for patients who require specialist review and monitoring that cannot be carried out in a community optometrist practice. Services include medication adjustments, laser surgery and stent procedures to relieve eye pressure. Patients remain under review at Optegra, with only those needing complex surgery referred to NHS trust hospitals.
Optegra said the service aims to reduce pressure on NHS waiting lists and improve access for patients who previously faced delays in receiving care. Clinics in Nottingham and North London are also now taking referrals.
Ophthalmic surgeon Robert Petrarca (pictured), who set up the service, said: ‘The treatment pathway can vary for glaucoma patients, for those whose condition is stable and low-risk and who can be regularly monitored at their community optometrist, to those with more complex, high-risk cases who need surgical intervention or treatment at a Trust hospital.
‘However, there is a large cohort of patients in the middle of these – those whose condition has changed and may need adjustments to treatment. This is where we at Optegra can help. As these patients need to be reviewed by glaucoma specialists – who cannot be found at community optometrists – and are facing too long a waiting list to go to their Trust hospital.
Optegra operates 78 eye hospitals in the UK and internationally, performing more than 170,000 treatments a year.
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