Hospitals struggle to meet rise in referrals

Many hospital ophthalmology departments have experienced a significant increase in the volume of glaucoma referrals since the introduction of the NICE glaucoma guidelines.

A spokesperson for NHS Primary Care Commissioning (PCC) said: 'A noticeable volume of additional referrals' was caused by the April publication of NICE's guidance.

York Hospital ophthalmology department's clinical director Tim Manners revealed that the hospital's eye clinic had been 'swamped' by 1,000 extra patients since the guidelines came into effect in April.

Explaining how departments were coping with the extra demand, the spokesperson said: 'Some PCTs have commissioned additional hospital ophthalmology outpatient volumes as a response, but the smarter ones have been commissioning referral refinement schemes using community-based optometrists to carry out additional intraocular pressure checks and visual field screening.'