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Telemedicine: outcomes of a hybrid vitreoretinal service, from pilot to practice

Eye volume 38, pages 1221–1222 (2024)Cite this article

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Vitreoretinal (VR) surgical disorders had traditionally only been deemed suitable for face-to-face consultations. During the height of the pandemic, The Royal College of Ophthalmologists recommended the postponement of routine surgeries and outpatient appointments [1]. However, the burden of untreated ophthalmic disease continued to increase. Further compounded by reports of an increasing incidence of VR disease [2], a more sustainable approach to ophthalmic care was required. Virtual clinics were already established in ophthalmic services such as medical retina [3] and glaucoma [4] to complement existing services. This article addresses the trial of virtual clinics for VR patients at Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Trust Foundation. The study’s aim was to describe the clinical outcomes of a virtual VR service to provide a safe and effective service.

A retrospective observational single-centre case series study of consecutive patients attending the virtual VR clinics was carried out. Electronic records of all patients who attended virtual VR clinics at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, United Kingdom between April 2020 and December 2020 were retrospectively analysed. Patients referred to VR attended streamlined data collection clinics and followed up with a virtual review and telephone consultation. Cases were identified using institutional patient electronic databases (Medisoft Ltd, Leeds, UK).

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References

  1. Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth). Management of Ophthalmology Services during the Covid pandemic. 2020. https://www.rcophth.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Management-Of-Ophthalmology-Services-During-COVID-19_28March2020.pdf.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ophthalmology Department, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, S10 2JF, UK

    Taiwo Makanjuola, Matthew Schneiders, Anandshil Chawla, Kyle Wilson & Kurt Spiteri Cornish

Authors
  1. Taiwo Makanjuola
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  2. Matthew Schneiders
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  3. Anandshil Chawla
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  4. Kyle Wilson
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  5. Kurt Spiteri Cornish
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Contributions

TM was responsible for investigation, data curation, analysis and writing-original draft. MGS was responsible for the study design, investigation, data curation, analysis and writing-original draft. AC and SR were responsible for investigation, review and editing. KSC was responsible for conceptualisation, review and editing, writing and final approval of manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kurt Spiteri Cornish.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Makanjuola, T., Schneiders, M., Chawla, A. et al. Telemedicine: outcomes of a hybrid vitreoretinal service, from pilot to practice. Eye 38, 1221–1222 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-023-02866-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-023-02866-5

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