NHS glaucoma patients can now access speedy care at local specialist eye hospital

The new, free service launching at Optegra Eye Clinic Nottingham has been created to help relieve long wait times for glaucoma treatment at local NHS Trusts and offers essential monitoring by eye health experts. It also enables local patients to be monitored and reviewed by expert surgeons and offered treatment as necessary.

These are patients who need care from a glaucoma specialist, which cannot be provided by their local optician practice, and to date have had no option but to be put on waiting lists for the Trust hospital.

Optegra, based on Ruddington Lane, can now treat NHS glaucoma patients within just weeks of referral from a local optometrist.

Open-angle glaucoma, the most common form, typically doesn’t cause any pain or noticeable symptoms meaning many individuals do not realise they have the condition until some vision has already been lost. It usually starts by affecting peripheral (side) vision and can progress to affect central vision at end stages, if left untreated. Other symptoms include blurred vision or frequently bumping into objects.

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of irreversible sight loss in the UK, especially in people over 60. There is currently no cure for glaucoma, but with early diagnosis and the correct treatment, further vision loss can often be prevented. At Optegra, our glaucoma specialists use the latest technology to detect and treat the condition effectively.

Patient Mr Luay Hussein, who has accessed this service in Optegra Eye Hospital Manchester, describes the service he received: "The service I have received so far at Optegra has been excellent. I have been advised to attend the new glaucoma clinic in eight weeks and have a phone number to call if I notice any changes in my vision, which is very reassuring.

“I have yet to receive any treatment but because my condition is being closely monitored I know that any changes will be picked up quickly and I am very happy about that."

Optegra is delighted to now launch this service in Nottingham also.

Specialist interventions available at Optegra include adjustments to medication (a drop regime to manage eye pressure), laser surgery or a stent procedure to drain fluid to relieve pressure, patients will then continue to be monitored at Optegra.

Optegra Ophthalmic Surgeon, Mr Robert Petrarca, who set up the service at the hospital group, said: “The treatment pathway can vary for glaucoma patients, for those whose condition is stable and low-risk and who can be regularly monitored at their community optometrist, to those with more complex, high-risk cases who need surgical intervention or treatment at a Trust hospital.

“However, there is a large cohort of patients in the middle of these – those whose condition has changed and may need adjustments to treatment. This is where we at Optegra can help. As these patients need to be reviewed by glaucoma specialists – who cannot be found at community optometrists – and are facing too long a waiting list to go to their Trust hospital.

“We can provide this review and treatment, and only refer those who need complex trabeculectomy surgery on to Trusts – which means speedier access to treatment, as well as helping relieve Trust waiting lists for glaucoma.”

Jess Stokes, Clinic Manager for Optegra Eye Clinic Nottingham said: “Having firmly established ourselves as eye health experts in the region for both NHS and private cataract surgery we are so pleased to now extend our service to NHS glaucoma patients also.

“This is a serious eye condition and has many people awaiting treatment, so we are delighted to open our doors and provide excellent care and reassurance through regular monitoring.”

Optegra Eye Health Care is a specialist provider of ophthalmic services. Established in 2007, with its first hospital opening in 2008, it has completed over one million eye procedures from its 78 eye hospitals across the UK, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Holland.

As well as providing private vision correction treatments – from lens replacement and laser eye surgery to implantable contact lenses – Optegra treats cataract surgery both privately and through its partnership with the NHS.

Optegra also treats medical conditions AMD and glaucoma; and has launched the first ever treatment for people with the Dry form of AMD.

Optegra brings together leading-edge research, medical expertise and state-of-the-art surgical equipment. It performs more than 140,000 treatments annually, both private and publicly funded. Its top ophthalmic surgeons are renowned for their areas of expertise, offering excellent clinical outcomes and great patient service.