National Ophthalmology Database

The National Ophthalmology Database helps improve patient safety, quality and service improvement in ophthalmology. It brings together large-scale data on cataract surgery and age-related macular degeneration care.

The National Ophthalmology Database (NOD) runs two national audits that help improve the quality and safety of ophthalmic care. It brings together large-scale data on cataract surgery and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) care so clinicians, services and stakeholders can compare outcomes, identify variation and support improvement.

Visit the NOD site

What the NOD audits do

The College manages the NOD audit as part of our work to support high standards, patient safety and service improvement.

Our current audits focus on:

cataract surgery
AMD services

The NOD audit supports services to:

compare outcomes against national benchmarks
identify unwarranted variation
strengthen local quality improvement work
support safer care and more consistent standards
inform research, guidance and service development.

Why it matters

National clinical audit helps protect patients and supports professional standards. The NOD audit gives ophthalmology services access to large-scale evidence that can be used for quality assurance and quality improvement.

For cataract care, the audit has tracked outcomes since 2010 and has helped build a strong national picture of surgical safety and outcomes.

For AMD care, the audit provides national benchmarking on data from 2022 so services can compare visual acuity outcomes and key care process measures regionally and nationally.

The audit is also used to support wider improvement work across the system, including guidance development, service design, professional learning and research.

NOD in numbers

Cataract audit participation

99 centres in 2024

AMD audit participation

74 centres in 2024

Reduction in harm

Driven a reduction in PCR rates from 1.43% in 2014 to 0.69% in 2024

Savings for the NHS

Reduction in complications in cataract surgery saves the NHS £2million a year

How the audit supports improvement

The NOD audit is not just about reporting data. It also supports practical improvement in patient care, patient safety and service delivery.

Recent programme activity includes work to:

increase participation in both audits
improve the quality of submitted data
support benchmarking for services and clinicians
develop and apply quality markers for key metrics
improve how audit findings are shared through the NOD website
support research and service improvement using NOD data

How NOD data is used

NOD data helps clinicians and services understand outcomes and compare them fairly. It also supports:

local and national quality improvement
service planning and commissioning discussions
guidance and standards development
research applications and analysis
learning on variation, risk and outcomes

This work helps ensure ophthalmology services are informed by robust evidence and that improvement activity is grounded in real-world data.

For clinicians and audit leads

Accurate and complete data matters. Clinicians and department audit leads play an important role in making sure submitted data reflects clinical practice as clearly as possible.

Better data quality strengthens benchmarking, supports meaningful comparison and increases the value of the audit for patients, services and the profession.