Eye care services steering group The cataract pathway

The cataract patient pathway initiative is proving to be a bonus for many elderly and susceptible people and deserves a higher profile,
writes Elizabeth Frost, chair of the Cataract Steering Group

One of the initial pieces of work for the Eye Care Services Steering Group was to set up working groups to look at improving patient pathways for four conditions: cataracts, glaucoma, low vision and AMD.

I was asked to chair the cataracts group, and the membership was drawn from a wide range of disciplines. There were representatives from optometry and dispensing optics, ophthalmology and general medicine, the regulatory and representative bodies, patient interest groups, and the Department of Health. The group worked mainly by e-mail and phone, with a few meetings between individuals.

I produced an outline pathway, based very much on the work of Action on Cataracts and the evidence that was available from areas where the suggestions in that document had been piloted. Input was then invited from the committee members and incorporated. The draft pathway was presented to the

Eye Care Services Steering Group, and further modified. The pathways were presented at a series of DoH roadshows in April and May 2004. The Cataracts Pathway has now been circulated to PCTs as commissioning guidance.