Glaucoma Referral Refinement Service

Tender description

The aim of the service is to provide a patient focused, high quality Glaucoma Referral Service, to provide improved access to service closer to the patients home, as timely as possible and cost effective to North East Essex. This aims of the service will be to ensure that patients are seen in the most appropriate setting, whilst providing choice of provider. The aim of a glaucoma referral refinement pathway is to reduce unnecessary referrals to the hospital eye service, reducing patient anxiety and increasing capacity within the overburdened hospital glaucoma clinics. This will provide a more cost effective service with a greater number of patients managed within the primary care setting. The referral refinement pathway would allow accredited optometrists to repeat diagnostic tests to confirm the risk of disease and thus improve the accuracy of referrals and deflect unnecessary referrals. NHS North East Essex is seeking to identify providers who are able to commit to deliver the key objectives outlined in this specification, and who are willing to work with NHS North East Essex to improve, and ensure consistency, in the quality, effectiveness and affordability of these services to best meet the needs of patients, the referrers, and the CCG.