Vaughan Gething AM, The Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport officially opened the first specialist eye treatment centre integrated with a high street optician on 16 January.
Specsavers in Newport is now home to the Austin Friars Eye Treatment Centre which has reduced waiting times for assessment, diagnosis and treatment for people with an age-related eye condition and increased the volumes of patients seen by 20%.
The centre is the first of its kind in the UK to see a high street optician provide initial screening and referrals for people with symptoms of wet age-related macular degeneration (Wet AMD), and for NHS staff delivering treatment for the condition at the same location.
Funding from a Welsh Government Pathfinder project has enabled the creation of the Centre as a collaboration between the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and Specsavers. This allows for diagnosis and treatment for patients in the High Street by Specsavers and NHS staff, doing away with the need for a visit to the Royal Gwent Hospital.
‘The number of follow-up assessments for people in Gwent has increased by 20% per week and the average referral time has reduced by more than 40% with an average reduction of 15 days - from 34,’ said Gething.
Craig MacKenzie, optometrist director at Specsavers in Newport, said Specsavers Newport had been working with the local health board on a number of pilot schemes stretching back to December 2014. These linked diagnostic technology in the practice to ophthalmologists in the local hospital. The new centre had an ophthalmologist onsite to supervise nurses and optoms working on assessment for referral.
Statistics showed eyecare services to be more efficient but he said the positive effect on patients shouldn’t be forgotten. ’If patients are told they have glaucoma or AMD it can have a big effect. Now they don’t have to be sent to hospital, their condition can be normalised, it can all be done from within here. This is the first place in the UK that this is being done.’ He said staff from Moorfields had already visited with a view to emulating some of its work.
Doug Perkins, said the centre was a great example of optometry and ophthalmology working together. ‘Wales has shown a fantastic ability to lead demonstrating that we can gain from optometrists in the community working under ophthalmologists.’ He said the centre showed how opticians and hospitals can work together, ‘ We just need to get on with it,’ added Perkins.