A technician-led eye clinic based in Brent Cross shopping centre has helped significantly cut NHS waiting times for eye appointments, according to a new study.

Set up during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in September 2021, the Brent Cross site forms part of the Moorfields Eye Hospital network. While many NHS services were struggling with huge appointment backlogs, this clinic saw improvements.

Over the first five months of the clinic’s operation, the average delay for eye appointments across the Moorfields network fell by more than eight days each week. By April 2022, the average delay for patients with stable chronic eye conditions had dropped from six months to just two.

Virtual clinics like this one use trained technicians — some without prior healthcare experience — to carry out routine eye scans. These are later reviewed remotely by eye specialists, reducing the burden on hospital staff and allowing for faster patient care.

Lead researcher Siyabonga Ndwandwe, from UCL’s department of primary care and population health, said the model could be scaled up:

“Community-based, technician-led virtual review clinics could play a significant role in reducing wait times for patients with stable chronic eye conditions.”

This approach could be particularly useful as the NHS continues to face workforce shortages, especially in eye care.

Although the study focused on glaucoma and medical retina patients, the clinic has since expanded to include cataract patients and newly referred cases.

In total, the research analysed 69,257 appointments across the Moorfields network between June 2018 and April 2023.

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