News & Views

In this episode we hear from Mariantonia Ferrara a Medical and Surgical Retina Fellow from Newcastle and Kerr Brogan, a Glaucoma Fellow from Glasgow, about the results from surveys that they conducted during the pandemic that investigated the impact of COVID-19 on Ophthalmologists in Training. Kirthi Varo, the Chair of the Ophthalmologists in Training Group (OTG) then shares with us an overview of the role of the OTG and its importance during these challenging times.

We continue to work in uncertain times and the threat of a ‘second wave’ of the pandemic remains a possibility. We also know that this is likely to be compounded by the winter pressures placed on the system. We all have to be vigilant, be prepared and support our services to the best of our capabilities.

In this episode we hear from Nimish Shah, the regional diabetic screening lead for Bath and North East Somerset. He talks to us about how COVID-19 affected the running of the diabetic screening service.

The General Medical Council (GMC) has launched its national training survey.

In this episode we hear from Nada Burgess, a trainee from West-Midlands who shares her highly personal experience of suffering from PTSD following being redeployed during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists is deeply concerned about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic ophthalmology, research and innovation in ophthalmology and vision sciences.

In this episode we hear from Vidushi Golash, a trainee from the Kent, Surrey and Sussex deanery about her experiences of setting up and running virtual consultations for Oculoplastics patients.

Remote consultations have been given additional impetus by the COVID-19 emergency and are almost certainly one of the changes in practice that is here to stay. The advantages for the patient in terms of access are obvious, and video meeting platforms are now part of our daily lives.

The NHS has one of the most ethnically diverse workforces in the public sector. However, ethnic minority staff report worse experiences in terms of their lives and careers, when compared with white staff; people from an ethnic minority background are also under-represented in senior positions in the NHS.

In 2020 the college decided to postpone the Annual Congress due to the COVID19 pandemic. Sunil Mamtora, an ophthalmologist in training and host of the Eye to Eye podcast, recorded a Special Series of episodes called “The Congress that wasn’t”. These include talks from speakers that were due to present at the 2020 Congress.