Project HERCULES
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Healthcare Exemplar for Recovery from COVID-19 by Use of Linear Examination Systems
IRAS ID
303760
Contact name
Anika Kadchha
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 31 days
Research summary
In this proposal, we aim to deliver improvements in efficiency, and build additional clinic capacity, to help maintain services during the pandemic recovery phase, and aim to help restore activity levels pre-pandemic levels. We will focus specifically on the large number of patients who need monitoring for progression of chronic eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. We plan to fit out a retail unit in a major London shopping mall to serve as an Ophthalmic Diagnostic Hub, with iterative reconfigurations during the research project.
We will collect detailed time and motion data on the movement of staff and patients within the clinic to identify where improvements can be made, and further innovation can be targeted. We will also evaluate the efficiency, performance and patient satisfaction of reconfigurations of the Diagnostic Hub in collaboration with Health Economists. We will test each up to three reconfigurations in an iterative manner at maximum capacity, again collecting time and motion data that will be used to compare efficiency and cost effectiveness of each, and also in the context of the current standard of care at Moorfields. These data will help determine the optimal approach, and provide robust, granular data around the true costs of delivery of eye care in the modern NHS.
REC name
North East - York Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/NE/0164
Date of REC Opinion
17 Aug 2021
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion