Ophthalmology team sees close to 1,000 patients in just seven days
As we continue to focus on tackling our waiting lists, our teams have been pioneering new ways to make sure our patients get the care they need as quickly as possible.
Our Ophthalmology team have been at the forefront of this effort, successfully carrying out their latest high volume week, also known as a super clinic, which saw close to 1,000 patients in just seven days.
Clinical Lead for Ophthalmology Ayman Khaier said: “These initiatives are part of our approach to manage the backlog; we wanted to see patients who had their appointments delayed due to the pandemic and who have unfortunately been waiting a long time.
“The super clinic, which we called PrEYEority, was very successful as the team saw 980 patients, who had a range of cases, in one week.
“This effort was on top of our normal services - we held evening and weekend clinics to offer flexibility to patients which also allowed us to see a higher volume in a relatively small-time frame.”
Despite the unprecedented pressures on services, as a result of such efforts our Ophthalmology team’s waiting time has been six weeks consistently for the last 12 months.
Ayman added: “Our focus was on patient experience, we made sure to really engage with them to make sure they wanted to and could actually attend.
“The feedback was really positive, despite the high numbers the clinic ran smoothly and patients were really happy to be seen.”
The team’s initiatives have gained national attention, with various other trusts getting in touch to see how they can emulate the project.
Ayman explained how the team continues to manage the backlog: “We have new effective ways of working to make sure our patients get the care they need, such as our diagnostic hubs and patient initiated follow ups - which give patients more control over their care.
“While we adopt new ways of working, and making sure our normal services are not affected, we’ll look to see if we can continue to carry out high volume weeks ”
Read more about our Ophthalmology team’s remarkable work during the pandemic.