News from our partners: Views sought on future provision of ophthalmology services
News from our partners Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH)
Patients and staff are being asked for their views on how ophthalmology services, provided by SaTH, should be delivered in the future.
Ophthalmology services are currently provided at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH), the Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford, and Euston House (ICAT) in Telford; as outlined below:
| Site | Outpatients | Surgery |
| RSH | Adult & Paediatric All sub-specialisms and Urgent Eye Clinic
| Adult General Anaesthetic and Local Anaesthetic sub-specialisms, complex and “simple”
Emergency Operating |
| PRH | Adult & Paediatric All sub-specialisms
Excluding the following: Urgent Eye Clinic Injections for Medical Retina related conditions Cornea Cataract assessment
| Paediatric General Anaesthetic and Local Anaesthetic
Adult Oculoplasty surgery. |
| ICAT | Adult The following services only: Cataract assessments, non-specialised ophthalmology and the ability to deliver lasers . | Adult The following services only: Local Anaesthetic “simple” Cataract and Injections |
To improve patient care and waiting times; as well as help recruit and retain staff, SaTH is proposing to relocate the eye services currently provided by ICAT, back to the eye departments at RSH (Copthorne Building) and PRH.
The Trust is now seeking the views of service users, staff and other interested parties on two options:
- Option 1 – No change
- Option 2 – To relocate adult outpatient services from ICAT back into the respective main hospital sites; and relocate cataract surgery from ICAT to the Copthorne building at RSH
Tony Fox, Deputy Medical Director at SaTH, said:
“The demand for eye services provided by SaTH remains incredibly high. By relocating services back to RSH and PRH, it would not only help us to improve waiting times for our patients, it would also help us to recruit and retain the staff to provide those services.
“Staff would spend less time travelling resulting in more clinical activity. Having more staff at reduced sites would potentially mean appointments would not have to be cancelled due to sickness; and having staff working alongside each other – rather than being spread across sites – would enable many patients to have their eye needs met in one appointment rather than multiple appointments and trips.
“We would like to encourage anyone with an interest in hospital eye services to complete the questionnaire. It is important for them to have their say as this will help us to shape how services will be provided for them in the future.”
Interested parties have until 18 February 2019 to respond to the questionnaire which can be accessed here: https://www.sath.nhs.uk/wards-services/az-services/ophthalmology/ or via https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/1810EyeCare
The results of the questionnaire will be presented to SaTH’s Trust Board alongside associated recommendations at a meeting, which will be open to the public, in April 2019.
