Moorfields Eye Hospital has created a new diagnostic clinic in Hoxton, London to ease pressure on its hospital site while also promoting safe social distancing through faster, more efficient appointments.
Patients at the new clinic are called in for a series of rapid diagnostic tests that are completed one after the other during a 45-minute visit, explained Dilani Siriwardena, deputy medical director at Moorfields.
‘We had noticed even before the pandemic that it was more efficient for patients to have a series of rapid tests within a short visit instead of waiting around to see a consultant on the same day that diagnostic eye tests take place.’
Spending less time in clinic was highlighted by Siriwardena as a positive for social distancing as fewer patients would be in the building at the same time, although the benefits of shorter appointments were not exclusively pandemic related. Siriwardena said: ‘Once we have moved on from the pandemic this structure will still be beneficial as it is more convenient for both the patients and clinicians.’
Siriwardena explained that, once the results of the tests had been individually reviewed by Moorfields consultants, patients would receive a letter informing them of the outcome with an offer of a video or telephone appointment, if necessary. ‘Patients will only be asked to attend a subsequent hospital visit if the consultant sees something requiring urgent or personal attention,’ she added. ‘The patients who have been selected as being suitable for this pathway have found this much more convenient and clinicians have been able to use their time more efficiently.’
The opening of the Hoxton hub earlier this year represented the continuation of a programme Moorfields has begun to cater to patients in their own across the London area. Moorfields created the hubs pathway in 2018 at City Road before adding standalone sites in Cayton Street and Purley.
Siriwardena said: ‘The diagnostic hub pathway is something we were utilising before the pandemic, however, when Covid-19 hit we had to think creatively about how we could see more patients in a socially distanced way, so we accelerated and increased the scale and scope of the hubs.’
Hoxton became the newest location for a diagnostic hub because of its convenient location for patients from inner north-east London according to Siriwardena, who added: ‘The diagnostic hubs have been so successful for us that we see this pathway being used in other settings, not just for Moorfields but more widely across the NHS. The locations of any future hubs will be based on the needs of our patients and the areas they are based in.’
Once Moorfields had identified Hoxton as its preferred location it managed to acquire a building that had formerly been used as commercial offices, which Siriwardena said provided the most efficient building layout to see patients safely and efficiently.
The Hoxton hub worked as a specialised clinic and provided diagnostic services for patients with glaucoma and medical retina conditions.
Siriwardena said: ‘These include simple visual acuity tests, eye pressure examinations, visual field tests and detailed scans of the back of the eye. All of the tests measure whether a patient’s condition is stable or whether it has changed, so that we can identify patients who may need intervention from clinicians, such as a change in medication.’
Patients from various pathways were welcomed to the hub too, with users a mixture of long-term Moorfields patients and new referrals from GPs and optometrists. The centre was staffed by Moorfields employees who have been provided with in-depth training they were newly recruited or moved from other Moorfields services.
A patient who had previously accessed services at a Moorfields hub said: ‘I had a really good experience. It was quick, I felt safe, and there weren’t too many people booked in, so it was not crowded. It was very well organised and efficient.’