NHS London has awarded a grant to fund the training of optometrists in its south east area to double the number of practitioners taking part in the Bexley repeat measures scheme for glaucoma referral.
Up to 100 optometrists are expected to benefit from funding to pay for their participation in refresher referral events and workshops. At the moment 42 practices are involved in the scheme and the aim is to double that.
The grant was awarded to NHS South East London which is working with Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham, Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich local optical committees (LOCs). Primary Eyecare BBG - the company set up by Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich LOCs - is arranging the events and co-ordinating the project in the boroughs.
Registered practitioners who are performers in one of the six PCT areas in south-east London will be paid £60 for attendance at each event. These include talks by leading hospital specialists, details of referral standards and talks on how repeat measures schemes can help your business. Workshops offer the opportunity to refresh knowledge of applanation tonometry and devices.
The glaucoma scheme in Bexley has been assessed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and published as a quality, innovation, productivity and prevention (QIPP) case study on NHS Evidence. The scheme is shown on www.evidence.nhs.uk as recommended.
The case study shows the scheme found 400 patients requiring repeat measurements. This achieved savings of 62 per cent against the hospital eye service, equating to £15,000 per 100,000 of population. The report said: 'There is a pressing need to apply programme budgeting to the whole glaucoma pathway.' Following the NICE advice to refer all patients with pressures above 21mmHg, referrals rose by 40 per cent but only from non-participating practices.
Practitioners can find out more at www.locsu.co.uk
