Barnsley Referral Information
Barnsley District Hospital Eye Clinic (BDGH)
Useful telephone numbers
- Ophthalmology Triage Nurse ( Emergency referrals): 01226 431330
- BDGH Switchboard: 01226 730000
- Ophthalmology Reception: 01226 434343
Email referrals
BDGH has switched over to receiving email referrals via NHS email.
Please use email addresses below:
NB. It is useful to request a “delivery report” or “read report” when sending referrals to ensure they are received and for your own record keeping.
Ocular Emergencies:
bhnftophthalmology.handover@nhs.net
Routine:
bhnft.ophthopticianreferrals@nhs.net
NB. All cataracts referrals should go through the Opera platform for BDGH/SpaMedica/Sheffield (Northern General) – See below for more details.
Barnsley referral protocol
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- If Patient is NOT suitable for MECS assessment and Referral (Urgent or Emergency) to Secondary Care is appropriate then use the contact details below:
- For Emergency Referrals call (Ophthalmology Triage Nurse): 01226 431330 and/or email: bhnftophthalmology.handover@nhs.net
- For Urgent Referrals email GOS18 to: bhnftophthalmology.handover@nhs.net
- For Routine Referrals to Barnsley Ophthalmology, please SEND GOS18 or private referral straight to Barnsley hospital via email to bhnft.ophthopticianreferrals@nhs.net please send a copy to the GP, stating “No action required, copy only”
- For Routine referrals to other Ophthalmology departments other than Barnsley, please send GOS18 via GP, stating clearly the hospital to be referred to due to Patient Choice.
- If Patient is NOT suitable for MECS assessment and Referral (Urgent or Emergency) to Secondary Care is appropriate then use the contact details below:
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Cataract Referral (Barnsley GP only)
Pre Cataract Assessment
- Please login to the Opera platform: OPERA Web (optom-referrals.org)
- Carry out a Pre-cataracts assessment for each patient, ideally with dilation.
- Use this to refer to Barnsley General, Northern General, SpaMedica: Wakefield (Ossett) and SpaMedica: Sheffield (Chapeltown).
Post Cataract Assessment
- These are all completed through the Opera platform: OPERA Web (optom-referrals.org)
- Hospitals should be referring patients back to individual practices via Opera and this should be checked on a regular basis.
- If a patient has attended for a post-cat assessment and is not on Opera, please add them as a new patient.
- At the end of completing the post- cat assessment there will be options to either:
- 1. Discharge – Completed
- 2. List for second eye
- 3. Refer a patient to Urgent Clinic for assessment
- 4. Patient already booked for second eye surgery
- 5. Refer a patient for YAG Laser capsulotomy
- If selecting any of the above referral options, please go back to the main Referral management screen, after completing the Post-Cataracts assessment, and complete the referral for the patient, by clicking on the Red Tab.
- NB. Only SpaMedica accredited optometrists can conduct a post cataracts assessment with patients who have had surgery at SpaMedica.
Cataracts Contractor Payment
Cataract Referrals for patients registered with a Barnsley GP attract additional payment to the contractor regardless of where the patient is sent for their cataract surgery.
Claim these additional payment through PES Finance on Opera:
Invoices
Activity completed by your practice for a particular service in a month will be compiled and an invoice generated in the first week after month end. With the overarching invoice from Primary Eyecare Services (PES) and associated supporting data submitted to commissioners by the end of the second week.
This process requires no action by practices as is carried out by PES with the support of Opera and other associated systems.
PLEASE NOTE:
You must close an episode in order for it be charged. If you need to close an open episode you can follow the instructional guide linked here to enable you to do so. If you need support when closing a patient episode, please contact is for support via the help function on Opera.
Please remember that episodes should be completed and closed on Opera ideally on the same day of the patient interaction took place (as a minimum for those being referred) but within 2 working days as a standard minimum. This is important for patient safety, communications with GP, contractual requirements etc. – including invoicing and payment!
Raising issues with your invoices
All finance queries should be raised and will be adjusted on your next invoice. We expect that there will be few of these.
On your invoice you will see a custom link to the OPERA help centre. Simply click this and it will launch a pre-populated email with the necessary details to forward your request promptly. Please provide OPR numbers for episodes that you need assistance with.
Payment
The commissioner invoice is due for payment to PES at 30 days after submission and disbursement to practices will take place within 7-10 working days to optical practices. This will be paid to the bank account you uploaded details for onto Opera as part of the onboarding process.
PLEASE NOTE:
An invoice becomes overdue for payment to PES approximately 6 weeks after month end and to practices 8 weeks after month end.
It is expected that regular monthly payments should be made to practices albeit they will be for 1-2 months in arrears due to the above process with NHS commissioners.
Inevitably there will be cases where some are delayed payments from commissioners and thus the above process is delayed and extended. Please note there are often some delays in the early stages of a new service prior to regularisation of payments.
In all cases PES will actively chase commissioners for overdue monies and pay practices as promptly as possible.
Support
Should you need general finance support please either go to app.optom-referrals.org and use the help bubble to raise a query or email: hello@referral.support
When raising queries via this method please include your practice name, ODS code and area you are based in to enable us to identify which practice the query relates to.