Acute Eye Conditions in Primary and Secondary Care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Acute Eye Conditions in Primary and Secondary Care
IRAS ID
254801
Contact name
Jennifer Acton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Research and Innovation Services, Cardiff University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Ocular issues account for 1-3% (4.5 million) of UK general practitioner (GP) consultations annually. Additionally, eye related attendances at accident and emergency (A&E) departments doubled to 3.8% from 2014 to 2015. The growing need for emergency eye care has led to a gap between service capacity and demand. Although many ocular problems are acute, they are largely not sight/life threatening - up to 30% of patients attended eye casualty with conditions manageable in community practice. Pharmacist-led minor conditions schemes include some eye conditions and chloramphenicol can be sold for acute conjunctivitis. Evidence supports the effectiveness of optometrist-led enhanced eye care services available throughout Wales and in parts of the UK, and shows optometrist-led urgent eye care services reduce A&E attendance. There is potential for these services to reduce the burden on GPs and secondary cares.
This research will assess urgent ophthalmic cases presenting to Cwm Taf Morgannwg A&E, optometrists, GPs and pharmacists in terms of management outcomes, patient satisfaction, cost and avoidable harm. Telephone surveys (<30 minutes) and interviews (<60 minutes) will take place with consenting patients who have recently attended for assistance with acute eye care problems. Insight into patient’s perceptions of their eye care experience and cost comparisons of a primary care based service will be obtained. Retrospective analysis of presenting acute eye case frequency to the 4 service providers over 12 months. The SAIL databank (emergency data and GP audit data), acute eye case data from optometrists (Eye Health Examination Wales [EHEW]) and pharmacists (Common Ailments Scheme), in Wales will be examined to assess; frequency of eye cases attending site, frequency of eye cases presenting to A&E/GPs, managed by treatment within the remit of optometry/pharmacy, cohort demographics and equity of access. Preliminary exploration of access cost at each site will be estimated based on site service fees.REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NW/0481
Date of REC Opinion
13 Sep 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion