Virtual eye care increases access

Moorfields Eye Hospital has hosted over 600 video appointments a week during lockdown to ensure patients continue to receive the specialist eye care they need.

Patients can typically speak to an A&E doctor within a minute of logging on to the website via their smartphone, computer or tablet without having to travel to the hospital.

A virtual receptionist prioritises patients and signposts them to the correct service, which has enabled Moorfields to offer eye care to more areas of London than it did before lockdown.

Dr Peter Thomas, director of digital innovation and consultant paediatric ophthalmologist at Moorfields, said: ‘The results and feedback we see over the next few months will help us to decide how widely we should use video consultations as part of our ongoing services.’