News & Views

Read the latest RCOphth news updates and guidance here.

News

Updated virtual clinic guidance for diabetic eye screening patients

In light of the reports of rejected referrals, Public Health England Diabetic Eye Screening have recently updated their ‘Managing Referrals to Hospital Eye Services’ guidance. This includes guidance on managing new referrals and the requirement for appropriate additional tests before a decision is made to discharge to the community.

News

NHS England Eye Care Planning and Implementation Guidance 2021-22

NHS England (NHSE) has published Eyecare Planning & Implementation guidance for this financial year (2021-2022). The guidance is for NHS Regions, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) moving to Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), and NHS Trusts (hospital eye services). Read the Eye Care Planning Implementation Guidance 2021-22 Summary Annexe.  This new guidance is an annexe to NHS England’s main 2021/22 priorities and operational planning guidance already published in March 2021.

News

National Ophthalmology Database Funding boost for new UK AMD Audit

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) is delighted to announce that the National Ophthalmology Database (NOD) Audit: Age-Related Macular Degeneration has now received funding for three years, enabling this important programme of long-term research and data gathering to begin. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) remains a leading cause of sight impairment despite new treatment options. It is estimated to affect 600,000 people in the UK, with 39,800 patients developing “wet” AMD each year.

News

Safety Alert: Retinal vein occlusions post COVID vaccination

The College had considered the recent reports of an increased incidence of Central Venous Sinus Thrombosis (CVST) in the UK and anecdotal cases of retinal vein occlusion (RVO) in the immediate period (28 days) subsequent to COVID vaccination. In view of this potential link, the College asks all UK ophthalmologists to consider reporting possible inoculation related cases to the MHRA using their reporting system.

Eye to Eye Podcast

Artificial Intelligence in Ophthalmology – a conversation with Pearse Keane

In this episode, we speak with Pearse Keane, a leader in AI within Ophthalmology and a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital. We talked about the differences between self-driving cars and Ophthalmology when it comes to machine learning. We took a deep dive into what the future might hold for the real world application of AI in our specialty and what the barriers might be.

Eye to Eye Podcast

A day in the life of a high volume cataract surgeon with pearls for success from Neto Rosatelli

In this episode, we speak with Neto Rosatelli, a cataract surgeon and YouTube channel host from Brazil. He shares his experiences in Ophthalmology, including his journey of becoming a high volume cataract surgeon and provides advice for junior ophthalmologists on how to develop surgical skills and efficiency. Neto will be speaking at the 2021 College Congress at the Ophthalmologists in Training Group (OTG).

News

Safety Alert: Boron additives in Chloramphenicol drops; should ophthalmologists be concerned?

Boric acid and disodium tetraborate are used as excipients in a number of medicines for their antimicrobial and buffering properties. Toxicity studies in rats identified that testicular toxicity leading to reduced fertility occurs at doses below that which result in damage to other organs. As a result, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended upper limits on the daily exposure to boron-containing excipients, expressed as equivalent doses of elemental boron. For children under 2 years, the limit is 1mg per day and for children aged 2-12 years, the limit is 3mg per day. (Reference: EMA/CHMP 619104/2013).