News & Views

The Staff and Associate Specialist (SAS) Ophthalmologists Group (SAS Group) is an integral to the work of the College supporting members in Staff Grade, Associate Specialist, Specialty Doctor (SAS) and other non-consultant non-training grades. It has a voice on all major College Committees to represent SAS ophthalmologists’ opinions to the College. Lead the RCOphth’s SAS Committee continuing and expanding on the Committee’s success in raising and addressing concerns of SAS ophthalmologists.  

In this episode we speak with Alessandro Rabiolo, a glaucoma Fellow at Moorfields Eye Hospital about his recent paper, 'Hypotony-associated Complications after Deep Sclerectomy: Incidence, Risk Factors, and Long-Term Outcomes’.

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.

The 2021/22 Priorities and Operational Planning Guidance published in March by NHS England and NHS Improvement has for the first time prioritised eyecare services along with cardiac and musculoskeletal services. This work is being driven through the National Eye Care Recovery and Transformation (NECRT) Programme.

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.

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.

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) recommends eye care centres monitor their own data to identify how their use of Intraocular Lenses (IOLs) affects the rate of a post-operative cataract surgical complication known as Posterior Capsular Opacification (PCO).

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.

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.

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).