Latest News from Hampshire LOC – 02 February 2024

5 February 2024

A date for your Diary – Hampshire LOC AGM – 05 June 2024 – And a Request

The 2024 Hampshire LOC AGM is taking place on Wednesday evening 05 June 2024. As part of the evening the LOC likes to include a CPD event, either a Speaker or training as we did last year with a peer review session.

This year we would like to hear from you as to what form of CPD you would like to have at the AGM.

Please email our Business Manager isilk@hampshireloc.org.uk with your thoughts by Monday 12 February 2024, so that the committee can review and decide on what CPD to provide you with.

Amniotic membrane: A potential solution for Dry Eye Disease? – 29^th February 2024

Dr Andrew Hopkinson, Chief Scientific Officer of NuVision, along with this colleague Chris Blake will lead a lecture, discussion and skills workshop to provide:

• a comprehensive understanding of amniotic membrane transplantation in a sutureless, surgery-free setting,
• a hands-on demonstration of applying amniotic membrane using a bespoke contact lens, and
• an opportunity for you to handle both the membrane and CL, gaining practical experience in the application and insertion process.

Anyone wishing to use amniotic membrane in practice needs to be certified to do so.  The aim of this session is to provide you with the necessary knowledge and training required for certification.  3 Interactive CPD points will be available.

Where: Prema Clinic, Compass Rd, Cosham, Portsmouth, PO6 4RP
When: Thursday 29^th February 2024
6pm: Finger buffet and drinks
6.30pm: Presentation begins
8pm: Close

Registration is required for this event as places are strictly limited. For more information or to register to attend, please email events@laservision.co.uk including your GOC number and any dietary requirements, or follow the link to the events section on our website – here

Opportunity to participate in the Electronic Referral Service (eRS) Pilot

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight ICB are taking part in a pilot run by NHS Digital and are looking for optometrists within the Portsmouth and South East localities who would like to be involved. Optometrists from the rest of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are welcome to volunteer also, as long as they see patients who choose Portsmouth Hospitals University Trust  for their ophthalmology treatment, as they are the only provider taking part in the pilot currently.

Please see the attached document for further details but essentially:

• The pilot will give optometrists access to refer patients directly to Portsmouth Hospitals via the e-Referrals Service (formally known as Choose and Book).
• Those who wish to take part will be provided with an authentication key, allowing them to access a web based version of eRS to send referrals
• This can be done without the need for an HSCN connection, which has been a barrier to optometrists accessing the system in the past
• Implementation support and Training will be provided by NHS England’s Digital Partnering Team
• The training will be delivered virtually via MS Teams. Virtual training has been provided in other ICB’s and feedback from Optoms was that it met their expectations
• The pilot will be for Medical Retinal conditions only initially, but could extend to additional ophthalmology pathways as the pilot progresses
• Being part of the pilot removes the need for optometrists to refer medical retinal patients to their GP for onward referral to Portsmouth Hospitals University Trust.
• It also enables two way communication as Portsmouth Hospitals consultants will have the option to ask the optometrist for additional information, advise on how the patient can be managed in the community or accept the referral

The aim of the pilot is to determine whether the NHS e-Referral Service is a suitable system for digitising referrals from optometrists to Hospital Eye Service Providers and to understand the business change effort needed for any further roll out.

If you would like to take part please contact the ICB via: hiowicb-hsi.icbelectivecaremailbox@nhs.net

If you don’t feel you are able to take part, please also make contact to let us know what the barriers or challenges to this are.

Furter Information – here