The EssilorLuxottica-owned eye-care specialist has expanded its glaucoma services to include Bradford which joins Manchester, Nottingham and North London.
Following on from expanding its service for NHS glaucoma patients in Greater Manchester in January, eye care specialist Optegra is expanding this service to new glaucoma clinics in England, alongside its established cataract and age-related macular degeneration services for NHS patients.
The new clinics will provide glaucoma patients access to care within two weeks of a referral and essential monitoring by eye health experts, which cannot be conducted at their local optometrist practice. The service also enables patients to be monitored and reviewed by surgeons and offered treatment as necessary.
The new, free service has launched in Optegra Eye Hospital Bradford. Optegra Eye Clinic Nottingham and Optegra Eye Hospital North London are also now taking glaucoma referrals.
This clinic is designed for patients who need care from a glaucoma specialist, which cannot be provided by their local optician practice, and to date have been put on a waiting list for the Trust hospital.
Patients in the middle
Interventions available at Optegra include adjustments to medication (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 by the firm.
The treatment pathway can vary for glaucoma patients. It varies from 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.
“There is a large cohort of patients in the middle of these – those whose condition has changed and may need adjustments to treatment,” explained Optegra ophthalmic surgeon, Robert Petrarca. “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,” he continued.
As Healthcare Today reported in June, Franco-Italian eyewear company EssilorLuxottica has acquired ophthalmology platform Optegra from London-based private equity group MidEuropa to boost its med-tech portfolio.
