Backed by up to £3 million of Scottish Government funding,
Emergency Eyecare Treatment Centres have been established in
all health board areas.
New technology is also being trialled by NHS Grampian and NHS
Forth Valley.
After a telephone consultation, some patients may be referred
to optometrists within the treatment centres who can manage a
wide range of conditions without further involvement from GPs
or hospitals.
In Grampian and Forth Valley, live video and audio feeds
between the centres and consultants in hospitals are also being
used to enable more patients to be immediately diagnosed and
treated.
Health Secretary said:
“While services have changed dramatically over the last few
weeks, my message is clear – if you are worried about your
health in any way, please get in touch with your GP. The same
applies to your vision – if you have experienced any problems
with your sight, please contact your local high street optician
as soon as possible.
“I would like to thank NHS Boards and the optometry and
ophthalmology professions for their excellent collaboration in
establishing, at pace, more than 50 Emergency Eyecare Treatment
Centres across Scotland to manage patients without COVID-19
symptoms who need an emergency face-to-face consultation.
“I am pleased to see some NHS Boards are also using innovative
new tele-ophthalmology technology. This means that more
patients can be immediately diagnosed and treated in a
community setting while gaining an expert opinion from the
secondary care ophthalmology team.”
Background
Patients without COVID-19 symptoms will be referred for an
emergency face-to-face consultation after having a telephone
triage or consultation with a community optometrist. Only the
Emergency Eyecare Treatment Centres will examine patients
face-to-face. These premises have been provided with the
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required to keep patients
and practitioners safe. The centres have been established by
each Board with guidance and support from Eyecare Scotland, the
national clinical leads multi-professional group.
Routine eye care services were suspended on 23 March. Since
then, community optometry practices have continued to provide
emergency and essential eye care services to patients, enabled
by a package of financial support measures from the Scottish
Government.
This includes provision of monthly average practice income from
NHS services and up to £3 million of funding for the provision
of emergency and essential eye care services.
More information about the tele-ophthalmology systems in NHS
Grampian and Forth Valley is available online.
