Eye care digital playbook

This resource provides support to clinical teams and organisations that are looking for digital tools that support the delivery of patient pathways. We concentrate on ophthalmology pathways and how to share diagnostics and undertake monitoring at home. We welcome feedback on the playbooks, including ideas for further case studies. To get in touch, please email digital.playbooks@nhs.net

Scenarios

Communicate with professionals and patients

Digital tools to support communication between eye health care professionals or with patients

Improve referrals to eye care services

Digital solutions to support optometrists refer easily and efficiently into secondary eye care

Set up a virtual clinic

Digital solutions to set up a virtual review service utilising diagnostic and imaging data

Set up a remote (video) clinic

Digital tools to facilitate remote consultations between clinicians and patients

Sharing clinical information across organisations

Digital solutions to ensure clinical data and images are fluidly transferred into the right system and patient record for optimal patient care

Home diagnostics

Digital self-monitoring tools to support remote clinics and patient self-assessment

Pathway

Eye care pathway

Explore case studies at different steps along the eye care pathway

Case studies

Remote tele-ophthalmology: advice and guidance for urgent eye conditions using Android (adults)

NHS Grampian’s Eye Health Network developed in 2016 apps and website as part of the National Ophthalmology Workstream.

Remote tele-ophthalmology: advice and guidance for urgent eye conditions for iPad/iPhone (children)

NHS Grampian’s Eye Health Network developed in 2016 apps and website to enable home visual acuity testing.

Remote home vision monitoring of macular disease

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust uses technology to allow remote vision monitoring specific to macular disease.

Remote patient monitoring for advice and guidance, with photos, videos and messaging

NHS Forth Valley, local optometry practices and patients use a secure video messaging service that allows clinical teams to send videos, photos, and messages.

Image capture on smartphone for primary care to improve referral refinement

Royal United Hospital Bath has started to adopt a smartphone-based lens attachment to improve the quality of referrals of anterior segment-related complaints to the urgent eye care service.

Communication between eye care professionals for advice and guidance

Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals piloted a messaging app as an advice and guidance option as well as one-to-one communication between on-call ophthalmology trainees and the consultant.

Communication between eye care professionals for referral refinement

Moorfields Eye Hospital rapidly deployed a messaging app in the early stages of the COVID-19 lockdown to support team-based communication.

Secure communication between primary and secondary care for urgent advice and guidance

Within Oxfordshire, the Minor Eye Conditions Service (MECS) uses NHS.net email to securely transfer patient information.

Digital referral, remote support communication system for secure advice and guidance

The Manchester and Greater Manchester locality, served by Primary Eyecare Services (PES) uses a secure digital referral, remote support and picture archiving and communication system (PACS).

Integrated Royal College digital electronic patient record of cataract surgery audit

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists developed a secure web portal for electronic data return direct to the hospital electronic medical record (EMR) from any registered primary care optometrist’s practice.

Integrated digital system for assessing outcomes in a shared care cataract pathway

Moorfields Eye Hospital sites use a web-based portal to securely return post-operative outcome data.

Setting up a virtual evaluation clinic for follow-up glaucoma patients

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust set up virtual glaucoma clinics.

Using an electronic patient record to establish virtual clinics

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust ophthalmic department set up virtual clinics to help increase capacity within the system.

Interoperability between all ophthalmic imaging devices and electronic patient records in the hospital eye service

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust deployed an integration platform for ophthalmology that connects all devices to a centralised database.

Interoperability between ophthalmic imaging devices and electronic patient records with controlled access to community primary care

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust introduced an integration platform to provide interoperability between all the imaging devices and electronic patient records in the hospital.

Remote consultations to reduce hospital and primary care visits for urgent eye care services

Moorfields Eye Hospital decided to launch two remote consultation clinic models using a video consultation platform.

A tele-ophthalmology system for remote consultation for urgent eye care problems

The University of Strathclyde and NHS Forth Valley has developed and implemented a tele-ophthalmology system.

Close up of a hand holding a BYOD clinical smartphone

Monitoring ophthalmic conditions with bring your own device (BYOD) smartphone photography

Moorfields Eye Hospital introduces routine clinical smartphone photography for clinicians to document examination findings and monitor clinical progress over time.

A hand on a laptop showing someone using a clinical decision support tool for patient triage

Supporting nurse-led triage with a clinical decision support tool in the paediatric ophthalmology A&E

A clinical reasoning triage platform for nurses, paramedics, physician associates and other frontline clinicians is used in Moorfields to help the clinicians to independently assess and triage patients.

Patient sat on a sofa having a video call consultation with a clinician using a laptop

Pharmacy-led video clinics supporting patients with ophthalmic medicines adherence

A remote consultation service to give tailored medicines advice and guidance to support patients.

Delivering and managing community glaucoma networks with an integrated digital system

Using a digital solution to improve the efficiency of glaucoma patient management, care and intervention in East Kent.

Eye care webinar

On 4 March 2021 we presented a webinar, how digital technology is transforming ophthalmic service delivery, with the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. Watch the webinar online.

Disclaimer

These case studies summarise user and patient experiences, focussing on:

digital solutions along different care pathways
productivity improving digital solutions
how to open source code for health and care organisations

Unless expressly stated otherwise, the apps and digital tools referenced are not supplied, distributed or endorsed by NHS England or the Department of Health and Social Care and such parties are not liable for any injury, loss or damage arising from their use.

All playbook case studies have either passed, or are currently undergoing the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) assessment.

Please note the full legal disclaimer: NHS Transformation Directorate playbook disclaimer