ArticleBMC ophthalmology2015
A comparative study of glaucoma referrals in Southeast Scotland: effect of the new general ophthalmic service contract, Eyecare integration pilot programme and NICE guidelines.
Article in BMC ophthalmology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review of clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of retinal vein occlusion.Eye (London, England) · 2024Pooled it
- Systematic review of the appropriateness of eye care delivery in eye care practice.BMC health services research · 2019Pooled it
- Improving glaucoma referrals in Scotland: developing a national data set for referral from community optometry to the Hospital Eye Service (HES).Eye (London, England) · 2026Article
- Post COVID glaucoma service redesign utilising electronic patient triage and community optometry clinics (Fife, Scotland 2020-2022).BMC ophthalmology · 2025Article
- The effectiveness of interventions for optometric referrals into the hospital eye service: A review.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2023Review
- Primary eye health services for older adults as a component of universal health coverage: a scoping review of evidence from high income countries.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2023Article
- Referrals from community optometrists to the hospital eye service in Scotland and England.Eye (London, England) · 2022Article
- Optometrist referrals to an emergency ophthalmology department: a retrospective review to identify current practise and development of shared care working strategies, in England.Eye (London, England) · 2021Article
- Digital ophthalmology in Scotland: benefits to patient care and education.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGlaucoma is a progressive disease responsible for the second commonest cause of blindness in the UK. Identifying appropriate patients for hospital care remains an ongoing challenge for all UK hospital glaucoma services. The purpose of our study is to evaluate accuracy and outcome of community optometry referrals before and after implementation of the new general ophthalmic service contract in 2006, the Eyecare Integration Programme pilot in 2008 and the effect of NICE guidelines in glaucoma in 2009, over a 12-year period
methodsA retrospective case analysis using a glaucoma electronic patient record was performed encompassing two six-year periods, 2000-2006 (Group A), and 2007-2012 (Group B).
resultsOne thousand six hundred twenty-two new patients' records were analysed. Waiting times reduced from 12.3 to 9.4 weeks. Significantly more patients kept first appointment (p = 0.0002) in group B. Glaucoma symptoms were significantly more in group A (p <0.0001) and only three patients lost Snellen' visual acuity before appointment in group B compared to 12 in group A. Documentation of intraocular pressure was made in 74.1% of Group A and 75.9% of Group B, optic disc appearance in 85.4% of Group A, and 93% of Group B and visual fields in 84.4% of Group A and 81.3% of Group B. Significantly less normal (p < 0,0001), more glaucoma suspects (p < 0.0001), more open angle glaucoma (p = 0.0006) and fewer other conditions (p = 0.0024) were present in group B, compared to group A.
conclusionPatients were referred earlier with shorter waiting times for hospital appointments with the new Scottish general ophthalmic service and Eyecare Integration Programme. Additionally there were fewer false positive referrals with more diagnosis of glaucomatous disease. We discuss the benefits of these national screening and referral pathways together with their limitations and further refinements.
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