NTW LOC is passionate about extending the full offer of primary eyecare across our footprint, via Optometry practices (community opticians) to provide more NHS-funded quality eye care closer to home. We are working closely with the local Ophthalmology Secondary Care Trusts to develop changes to the system to reduce inequality of care for our population. The aim will be to influence regional and local commissioning decisions.

Further updates will be provided soon.

In the meantime we’d encourage any Optometry Practice that is NOT sub-contracted to Primary Eyecare Services (PES) to contact Naomi Smith or Angela Henderson for details on how to set up a contract;

Naomi.smith@primaryeyecare.co.uk

Angela.Henderson@primaryeyecare.co.uk

Hello@referral.support

Local Extended Primary Eyecare Services

The services below have been commissioned across the NTW footprint area through Primary Eyecare Services, the national commissioning provider company for North East and North Cumbria LOCs.  The LOC advocates local commissioning of LOCSU pathways moving towards an Optometry First model, supporting Ophthalmology capacity and the NHS Long Term Plan.

These services are supported by the OPERA IT platform.

REMINDER: All Performers are required to check and update their DBS and safeguarding status on OPERA.
Help with OPERA including how to upload certificates, DBS, etc can be found HERE.

1. 1. QiO GOS Contract Checklist
   2. QiO NHS Standard Contract Checklist
   3. DSPT toolkit
   4. Completed QiO Infection Control Audit

All the checklists are found within https://www.qualityinoptometry.co.uk/

Practitioners will need:

Safeguarding Level 2 Adults Certificate (must have been completed within last 3 years)

Safeguarding Level 2 Children Certificate (must have been completed within last 3 years)

An enhanced DBS Certificate with update service ( must have been completed within the last 3 years.

Details regarding how to complete these can be found HERE

The additional accreditation and training needed for  each specific service is as follows;

1. 1. Post Cataract services (Independent Sector Providers) – WOPEC cataract accreditation.
   2. Glaucoma Repeat Readings – WOPEC Glaucoma (level 1 distance learning)
   3. Glaucoma Enhanced Referral Service – WOPEC Glaucoma 1 &2 plus local accreditation.
   4. Post vision screening ( Children’s service) – WOPEC pediatric

ODS code

An ODS code (also called an Organisation Code) is a unique code created by the Organisation Data Service. This code is used to identify organisations across health and social care. As an NHS service provider all optical practices have a code. We use the codes within Opera to correctly identify optical practices. You can search for a practice code via this website.

NHS Digital ODS Portal

MECS/CUES Services

There are currently no MECS or CUES services commissioned in the NTW footprint area. All non-GOS activity is offered privately to patients or directed to the NHS provision via the Eye Emergency Departments.

Glaucoma

NORTH OF TYNE (NORTHUMBERLAND, NORTH TYNESIDE AND NEWCASTLE, GATESHEAD)

Community Optometry services for patients registered with GP’s in above areas.

The Services:
Glaucoma Repeat Readings (GRR) This is an established service which works by repeating pressure checks with contact tonometry (Goldmann/Perkins) or visual field assessments (full threshold fields with printable report, not FDT fields) where necessary the glaucoma repeat readings pathway will reduce false positive referrals to the hospital eye service, reducing patient anxiety and increasing capacity within the overburdened hospital glaucoma clinics.

Glaucoma Enhanced Referral Service (GERS) Where patients have multiple suspicious clinical signs and/or risk factors of glaucoma, the primary care optometrist with additional accreditations will refine glaucoma suspect/ocular hypertension referrals by carrying out further examinations.

Glaucoma Monitoring Service The Glaucoma Monitoring Service will be for patients discharged out from NuTH. These identified low-risk patients will be given a choice of qualified optometrists to see. The optometrist will review the patient at appropriate intervals in line with the guidelines, using the appropriate methods for examination. The optometrist will undertake a series of clinical assessments and make a recommendation on appropriate management of the patient’s condition and time for the next assessment.

SOUTH OF TYNE (SUNDERLAND/SOUTH TYNESIDE)

Glaucoma Repeat Readings (GRR) – IMPORTANT – FROM MARCH 2022 THIS HAS BEEN MANDATED

ALL REFERRALS TO SEI DUE TO RAISED IOP’S OR SUSPICIOUS GLAUCOMATOUS VISUAL FIELDS, BUT NOT DISC CHANGES NEED TO GO VIA THE GRR SERVICE ON THE OPERA IT PLATFORM.  IF YOU DO NOT OFFER THIS THEN PATIENTS NEED TO BE REFERRED TO AN OPTICAL PRACTICE THAT DOES. SEI WILL BE DEFLECTING ANY REFERRALS THAT DO NOT COME VIA THIS ROUTE, TO A CENTRAL PES COORDINATED TRAIGE CENTRE.

If you are not an existing subcontractor with PES please can you confirm your interest in providing this service by completing the registration form via this link http://bit.ly/opto-reg-portal.

If you are an existing subcontractor with PES but do not currently deliver the GRR/IOPRR service please contact info@primaryeyecare.co.uk. Please ensure to include full practice name and address and which service in which locality you wish to join.

Community Childrens Service (All areas)

This pathway aims to reduce unnecessary referrals to secondary care ophthalmology departments.

This is achieved by allowing community optometrists to provide management and treatment to children who are found to have suspected amblyopia following school screening.

More information available here.

It provides a comparable service for people who are unable to leave their homes unaccompanied but who are able to attend for surgery.

The post-operative data audit collection helps NuTH to record their National Ophthalmic data return for cataract surgery.

Clinical guidelines and a patient self-assessment questionnaire will support the participating optometrist to differentiate between:

Cataract patients who are not currently appropriate for referral for NHS treatment either because the patient chooses not to be considered for cataract surgery or because the patient has chosen to be referred

Cataract patients who are suitable for direct referral to the hospital. In this case, the supporting information provided with the referral will allow the hospital to determine whether the patient is likely to be suitable for a direct access clinic or a traditional clinic due to their more complex health needs.

It will be the practitioner’s responsibility to establish the patient’s eligibility.

They should therefore only assess and refer patients under this service who are NOT already under the care of an NHS Trust ophthalmologist for another active ocular condition.

N.B. A letter to the consultant explaining the patient’s current visual difficulties is appropriate for patients under the care of an NHS Trust consultant ophthalmologist for another active ocular condition.

Non-Participating Practices It is anticipated that most optometrists will participate in the services. Practices that do not participate in the service must refer suitable patients wishing to be referred to NuTH via their GP.

Post cataract data audit collection service – completed templates for this are submitted via an nhs mail address. 

NHS funded Cataracts Services in Community Optometry (All areas)

Alongside Sunderland Eye Infirmary and Newcastle Eye Department. There are now a number of Independent Sector Providers of NHS cataract surgery within the NTW Footprint.

Pre-Cataract Pathway and referrals

Primary Eyecare Services (PES) and Northumberland Tyne and Wear LOC have been working together to streamline the cataract referral process for patients.

PES has been in contact with all the local Independent Sector Providers (ISPs) of cataract surgery to discuss the option of developing a pre-cataract pathway for their patients which will run alongside the service commissioned for Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals (NuTH) by the ICB.

This would provide an equitable service to all patients and make referrals for practitioners easier to navigate. We appreciate that the current referral process is very disjointed, and the new services would allow the same referral process for all Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle Gateshead patients who require cataract surgery.

Please watch out for further information coming soon on these changes.

Pre-Cataract Pathway South of Tyne

The NHS-funded pathway for referral to all services in South of Tyne remains the same via the GP using their Choose and Book system – it is possible to provide Post-op cataract service for a number of these providers via the OPERA platform.

For more info see HERE

For more information contact the services directly.

• • Optegra, Gateshead – Here
  • Newmedica, Gateshead/North Tyneside – Here
  • Spamedica, Gateshead/North Tyneside/Teeside – Here
  • CHEC, Gateshead HERE
  • ACES, Newcastle HERE

OPERA ONBOARDING TIPs;

PRACTICE REGISTRATIONS

• When you complete your Practice registration the initial onboarding login will be sent to the email address inputted as ‘main contact email’. Please ensure that this email address is unique to the Practice that you are registering, and is correctly inputted without typos
• Please ensure that you upload PDF documents only as the system will only accept this format
• When uploading requested documents, please ensure that you provide the correct ‘date’ information. It should be the date printed on the document
• Please note that the initial onboarding login is part of the registration process – this login will only allow you to add a Practitioner, NOT a non-clinical admin member of staff
• To add a Practitioner use the ‘Invite user to practice’ option button and complete the information as prompted. Once the Practitioner has completed this process and gained access to Opera, the Practitioner can then invite non-clinical staff to gain access using the ‘create an administrator’ option

PRACTIONER (OPTOMETRIST) REGISTRATION

• When registering as a practitioner, please again use a unique email address for YOURSELF – do not use the email address utilised to complete the practice registration.
• A practitioner only needs to onboard (complete the registration) ONCE. After a Practitioner has been approved and received their OPERA login, they can be added to other Practices they work at, by the practice themselves by using the ‘add a user’ functionality under the administration tab and entering their existing Opera login details
• Ensure all documents are in PDF format and that the correct dates are being inputted

Throughout the registration process, you will receive emails from optom.ers@nhs.net 

Please do not reply to this email address, this account is not monitored and is an automated account built into the system only. Please also ensure you add this email address to your contacts list, so the emails do not end up in your junk and spam folders.