We are aware that some ophthalmology services are reviewing outpatient clinic templates and that members are being asked locally to increase the number of patients booked into clinics.
Improving productivity and making the best use of the whole ophthalmic workforce are important, but clinic capacity cannot safely be determined by applying a single number across different services, subspecialties or clinical teams.
The number and mix of patients that can appropriately be seen will depend on factors including case mix and complexity, the composition and experience of the clinical team, supervision requirements, diagnostic and investigation needs, administrative and EPR requirements, supporting staff, facilities and the way the wider pathway is organised.
We are developing a national framework to support safe and sustainable ophthalmology clinic template design. This is intended to help clinicians and services have informed local discussions about capacity and workforce rather than establish a national productivity target. Indicative activity ranges within the work should therefore not be interpreted or applied as fixed targets.
We have been discussing outpatient productivity and clinic template design with Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) and other national stakeholders. We are aware that GIRFT material and the RCOphth are sometimes being referenced together in local discussions. For clarity, the College’s own clinic template framework remains under development and no external clinic template figures should be interpreted as RCOphth-endorsed national standards or targets.
Our framework is being developed through RCOphth governance and with input from specialist societies, Quality, Audit and Standards Committee, the Workforce Committee and other stakeholders. It will focus on the factors that need to be considered when designing safe and sustainable services, while allowing for appropriate local variation.
In the meantime, members involved in local discussions may find our Workforce: Prevalence of Eye Conditions resource helpful. It brings together information on the prevalence of eye conditions, expected visits per patient and the workforce involved in delivering different areas of ophthalmic care, providing useful context for local capacity planning.
We expect to provide a further update on the clinic template framework following the next stage of review and consultation.