Northern Ireland body reacts to NICE advice

Optometry Northern Ireland (ONI) recommends members comply with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines on the management of chronic open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension in England and Wales.

The guidelines, which came into force on April 22 2009, require that anyone with suspected IOP of over 21mmHg or glaucoma symptoms would require referral to a specialist practitioner. However, as reported in Optician (24.04.09) NICE guidance notes suggested that optometrists would still be able to monitor already diagnosed ocular hypertensives and suspect primary open-angle glaucoma patients provided they could perform and interpret a number of clinical techniques including Goldmann applanation tonometry.