Gloucestershire’s ‘outstanding’ digital optometry project, which is the first of its kind in the country, has been recognised in the 2023 NHS Parliamentary Awards.
The system, OphthalSuite Community Ophthalmic Link, developed by BlueWorks OIMS, enables community optometrists to access patient’s eye health records quickly and securely.
Launched by the NHS in Gloucestershire in 2022, the project has been shortlisted as the regional finalist in the Future NHS category, having been nominated by Cheltenham MP Alex Chalk and Gloucester MP Richard Graham. The winner of the award will be announced at an event on 5 July in Westminster to coincide with the NHS 75th birthday celebrations.
With patient consent, Optometrists can now access secondary care (hospital) eye examination results in real-time, and search information and statistics, including comparing all exams and ophthalmic imaging taken over different periods.
Clinicians also have secure access to view patient’s ophthalmology data including photos, scans, videos, metadata, GP letters and care plans.
The success of the project means Gloucestershire is the first area in the country to provide eye care records to optometrists working in the community, which has a direct impact on improving referrals and quality of care across the county.
Judges recognised the project as “an outstanding example of successfully embedding impactful change using data and digital technology.”
Kerry O’Hara, Associate Director of Clinical Programmes at NHS Gloucestershire, has helped lead the project. She said:
“This is a real recognition of the innovation that is happening in eye care in Gloucestershire. The success of the project is a testament to the partnership working with Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the Gloucestershire Local Optical Committee and the people with lived experience who contribute to the project. Patients are benefitting from better care in the community, less need to travel to a hospital and the project is ultimately helping to prevent avoidable sight loss.”
Dr Graham Mennie, clinical lead for the programme for NHS Gloucestershire said:
“We are very proud to be leading the way on a joined-up approach to eye health. This scheme has been a collaboration across the partners and providers in Gloucestershire’s healthcare system and we are delighted to be a finalist in the NHS Parliamentary Awards in such an important year for the NHS.”
Ankur Trivedi, Specialist Optometrist at Keith Holland Opticians said:
“My Gloucestershire community colleagues, and I find the Community Ophthalmic Link (COL) valuable in our day to day care of patients at the front line. It enables us to be much better informed of our patient’s ophthalmic history and therefore better inform the patients (as well as their families and carers) themselves.
“From a wider context, colleagues outside of Gloucestershire look at what we have in place with an element of envy – patients assume that this level of interoperability is already in place across the whole of the UK.”