New Referrals
All referrals are screened by a consultant ophthalmologist who reviews the information from the referrer such as examination findings, treatment thus far and your other relevant medical health problems to decide how quickly you are seen and which specialist is best positioned to manage your problem. Rest assured this thorough process aims to triage the referrals so those whose conditions need the most immediate attention are prioritised.
We all appreciate how important our eyes and sight are and how important it is to you to get a diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible however, worldwide the demand on ophthalmic healthcare service far outweighs the existing healthcare resources so all eye departments operate safe systems to ensure those who clinically need seen first are seen first. Many eye conditions do not require time sensitive treatment i.e. the time before treatment is commenced has no impact on the success of the treatment.
New Eye Problems
No.
The ophthalmology department manages the most complex and serious eye conditions. Highly trained community optometrists (opticians) provide a more immediate and local NHS emergency eye care service. For more serious eye problems that need more specialist treatments or surgery they will liaise with us and we will coordinate to prescribe treatment, review your eye in the optometrist premises by teleophthalmology video call, or organise for you to attend the eye clinic if necessary.
No.
A&E /ED deals only with life and immediately sight threatening problems. They will triage your eye problem on arrival and may ask you to attend a more appropriate healthcare provider such as community optometrist. If it is deemed necessary to review your eye in the Emergency Department please expect a long wait as they must prioritise life and limb threatening problems before eye problems. Please be mindful that very few acute eye problems cannot wait to be seen during working hours at a community optometrist, many of which are available 7 days a week.
Existing Eye Problems
Please contact the secretary of the consultant you saw and leave a message for their attention. They will get back to you with results. Please note most results for most radiology scans i.e. CT or MRI take between 2 and 3 weeks after the scan.
In order to better meet the needs of our patients and the ever increasing demand on the ophthalmology service in NHS Forth Valley, the consultants have made the decision to discontinue the clinic priority service and replace it with a clinical advice telephone line for select eye conditions which are likely to recur or deteriorate.
Going forward if you have deterioration of an existing eye condition for which you have previously been issued the clinic priority form, we would ask you to call us on the same number for clinical advice. We will direct you accordingly. It is quite likely we will ask you to attend a community optometrist rather than the ophthalmology clinic if you need physical assessment.
The consultants have asked that the instructions are strictly enforced and that this service is solely for deterioration of existing problems. New ophthalmic problems should be seen by a community optometrist (optician) without discussion with us to keep the telephone line free for those existing patients needing clinical advice.
Medication enquiries that are unable to be dealt with by the GP should be put in writing to the practitioner you see at the address on the Clinical Advice form who will write to you with a solution. The telephone line will be unable to assist with appointment, waiting list or surgery date administration.
Virtual Clinics
In select cases we may invite patients to consult virtually with us via a secure video call platform approved for NHS use. You will be advised if this is suitable for you and given an appropriate time for your consultation. Please login five minutes in advance to ensure technical glitches when first using don’t delay your appointment. More information can be found here.
In select cases we may ask patients to communicate with us via a secure video messaging platform to allow you to provide your ophthalmologist with information on your eye condition at a time convenient to you. Your consultant can later review the information and communicate any recommendations to you. You will be advised if this is suitable for you and given the link to instructional videos.
Glaucoma / Virtual Clinica
Glaucoma is a lifelong chronic condition predominantly affecting older patients, consequently UK wide there is a high demand for follow up appointments. In order to meet demand and ensure patients continue to be monitored without delay NHS Forth Valley has begun what are known as ‘virtual’ clinics. In these clinics, qualified staff will collect data through standardised tests which will then be recorded for review by one of the glaucoma specialists at a later date to decide if your condition is stable or requires any changes to management. The level of care is exactly the same as you will be used to, however, you will not physically see the ophthalmologist at your appointment. This allows us to care for a greater number of patients. From a patient perspective we hope this reduces your wait time, provides faster appointments and avoids overdue review delays associated with volume of workload. It also frees face to face appointments with an ophthalmologist for patients needing more complex levels of glaucoma care. Almost all eye departments in the UK and increasingly worldwide are offering virtual glaucoma clinics. In NHS Forth Valley we have been providing medical retina virtual clinics safely for a number of years. Studies in the UK have found the virtual glaucoma clinic to be popular with patients and offering high levels of satisfaction.
As with a traditional glaucoma clinic appointment with a consultant, the virtual glaucoma clinic is focused on a detailed assessment of your glaucoma. There are many other conditions of the eye, each with their own separate and different examinations and investigations. If you are attending other clinics in the eye department such as medical retina, diabetic retinal screening or corneal clinic we would ask you continue to attend these. For general eye health checks an annual free NHS eye exam is available at your local community optometrist (optician).
You will attend the eye clinic at Falkirk Community Hospital as normal where your vision on the eye chart, eye pressure and visual field will be measured, We will also perform a combined photo and scan of the nerve of the eye. Finally a nurse will record some important information. Due to the detailed assessments involved please allow at least an hour for the appointment but we hope you will have a shorter wait than you might be used to in the traditional glaucoma clinic. The only difference is you will not see the ophthalmologist but they will write to you with their opinion afterwards.
As part of your assessment please bring your most recent spectacle/contact lens prescription from your community optometrist (optician). If you do not have it to hand please bring your most recent glasses. Please bring a list of your medications including eye drops with details of the doses and frequency of administration.
Our glaucoma specialists review the detailed history, measurements, photos and scans to determine the rate of progression of your glaucoma. We will then write to you in due course to advise on the outcome of the assessment and the planned follow up. You’re GP and community optometrist (where we have the details on file) will be sent a letter with these details. Any questions you have we will be answered in this letter.
On reviewing your glaucoma following the virtual appointment we may advise that it is stable and therefore you can continue to be seen in the virtual clinic. Where we feel we need to find out more information or share more information with you, we will invite you to a face to face appointment.
During the virtual clinic the nurse will enquire if you have any questions for us and we answer in writing when we review your virtual appointment data. We do recognise sometimes patients need a little more assistance and so we are happy to organise a face to face appointment after this virtual review if you feel this would be of help to you. To ensure the patients with the highest clinical urgency are seen promptly we will organise this appointment based on the clinical situation so please be reassured if it is further in the future than you might expect.
- Dr David Wardrop – Glaucoma Lead Consultant
- Dr Paul Flavahan – Consultant Ophthalmologist
- Dr David Miller – Consultant Ophthalmologist
- Ms Kate Docherty – Head Optometrist & Glaucoma Specialist
- Ms Rachael Callaghan – Glaucoma Specialist Optometrist
- Ms Lisa Cowan – Glaucoma Specialist Optometrist
Eye Surgery
Patients referred for cataract surgery need to have a face to face appointment where measurements for surgery are taken, clinical assessment is made and a discussion regarding risks, benefits and alternatives of surgery can take place. Sight loss from cataracts is a gradual process and whilst it can be debilitating, be reassured it is unlikely to deteriorate fast. Cataract surgery is non-emergency elective surgery. The department is working tirelessly to deliver cataract surgery to those that need it but we would ask for your cooperation as we balance urgent eye surgery against elective surgery and comply with the necessary precautions of delivering hospital care during a pandemic.
All eye departments in the UK are facing the same challenges and our waiting times in NHS Forth Valley are comparable. The national waiting times hospital at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital is operating with the same challenges and restrictions, it is therefore unlikely your surgery will happen any sooner there or in any other health board during the pandemic.
In order to offer patients their surgery as soon as possible you may be offered surgery with a different ophthalmology consultant than the one you met at your outpatient appointment. Waiting for a specific consultant may necessitate a longer wait for surgery.
At present due to staggered theatre admission times to ensure physical distancing patients cannot use hospital transport to attend day surgery at Falkirk Community Hospital.