Ophthalmology to re-open to new referrals following recruitment campaign

The Eye Department at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) will re-open to new referrals from Sunday, 1 April 2018, following a successful recruitment campaign.

The Trust has recruited a number of new staff to senior positions, including consultant ophthalmologists, and reduced waiting lists, enabling the service to re-open to new patients. A clinician is also being trained in Adult Squint Surgery, which means that this service could also re-open to referrals later in the year.

In addition to this, the Eye Department at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) has moved into a new facility in the Copthorne Building at the RSH, which has been carefully designed with the needs of ophthalmology patients in mind. It was opened in June 2017 for outpatient appointments and clinics, bringing with it a number of benefits to patients including modern facilities, new equipment and increased capacity. A new paediatric ophthalmology department was also opened in October last year.

The Eye Department has been closed to new referrals since January 2017 due to workforce pressures and an unprecedented demand for its services.

Dr Prasad Rao, Consultant Ophthalmologist and Clinical Director for Ophthalmology at SaTH, said: “Leading up to the closure 12 months ago, we had five senior doctor vacancies and we were unable to meet the levels of demand on the service. However, in the last 12 months we have significantly improved the accommodation, which now provides excellent new facilities; and recruited to all but one vacancy, which has provided more capacity to diagnose and treat patients that require hospital eye services. This is fantastic news for our patients in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Mid Wales.”

The department will be accepting new patient referrals for general and glaucoma eye conditions from 1 April 2018. SaTH will still remain closed to Adult Squint Surgery whilst a clinician is trained in this field. Adult Squint Surgery is carried out on a small proportion of the population and patients who are to be considered for this surgical intervention will be given choice to go to other providers. However, it is hoped that SaTH will be able to re-open to Adult Squint Surgery referrals towards the end of 2018.

Alongside the increased workforce and new facilities at SaTH, Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) have improved the community eye provision by appointing a new provider. Community Health Eye Care Ltd provides consultant-led eye clinics at six locations throughout Shropshire, and Telford & Wrekin. The appointment of a new community eye service provider on behalf of the CCGs ensures patients that do not need to be seen at hospital get a high quality consultant-led service closer to where they live.

Julie Davies, Director of Performance and Delivery at Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “This change to service design is a positive improvement to Ophthalmology Services in Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin, and alongside SaTH’s increased workforce will ensure that patients who need eye care services will not only be seen quicker but will benefit from consultant-led care closer to home.”