Successful Glaucoma Enhanced Case Finding Service Extended Across Three More Greater Manchester Boroughs

8 June 2023

Over the past ten years, our Glaucoma Enhanced Referral Service (GERS – also referred to as an Enhanced Case Finding Service) has gradually expanded across more and more of Greater Manchester’s (GM) boroughs. Most recently, on 2 May, Primary Eyecare launched GERS in the Salford, Oldham and Tameside.

In the traditional model, referral for suspected glaucoma is routed via the GP. In the GERS pathway, however, following a patient examination, qualified glaucoma-care accredited optometrists will either discharge the patient from the service or make a direct referral to a local specialist ophthalmologist for diagnosis and treatment.

Speaking about the recent service expansion, Wendy Craven, one of Primary Eyecare’s Clinical Directors, said:

‘With the Glaucoma Enhanced Referral Service, our highly skilled optometrists in primary care can filter referrals ensuring that only those patients who need to be diagnosed and treated by a consultant ophthalmologist are referred to hospital glaucoma services.

The service extension across Greater Manchester builds on a strong evidence base working alongside the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, and is reinforced by the most recent Recommendations made by NHS England and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges as an evidenced based intervention.

It is great to see the Glaucoma Enhanced Case Finding services being implemented in more and more areas across England ensuring that this popular, effective service is available to more people close to their homes.’

Filtering referrals for early intervention

Streamlining the referral process in this way allows an element of filtering to be applied so that individuals at higher risk of developing glaucoma are identified, prioritised and can receive sight-saving diagnosis and treatment as early as possible in the condition’s development.

Not only does this streamlining process increase a patient’s chance of achieving the best possible outcome, but it also aims to reduce the level of ‘false positive’ cases referred into hospital eye care services, thereby ensuring the most efficient, and cost-effective use of NHS resources in both primary and secondary care settings. As well as cutting down the waiting time for a definitive diagnosis, patient anxiety levels are also reduced.  

Routing Patients Through a Single Point of Access

Via this service extension, Primary Eyecare, has also implemented a Single Point of Access (SPoA) system. This will enable referrals to the service from non-participating practices, GPs and hospital eye services to be routed through our hub to a participating practice with capacity to see the patient in a timely manner. This process further enhances the patient experience and minimises administrative burdens on optometry practices and wider stakeholders.   

How Is the Newly Extended Service Being Received?

Early patient feedback during the first month of the recent GERS service extension into Salford, Oldham and Tameside has been very positive.

Examples of comments from people who have used the service include:

‘A very thorough, friendly service’.*

‘Really informative and helpful’.*

‘The efficiency and knowledge of the staff is outstanding and the way in which they manage  patients is excellent’.*

*Source: Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMS)

About Glaucoma

Glaucoma is the name of a group of eye diseases that damage the optic nerve. The optic nerve transfers visual information from the eye to the brain and, if damaged, can result in sight loss and even blindness.

Glaucoma is a complicated disease and diagnosis is not always easy. Several different tests will be needed to assess damage to the optic nerve has occurred. In many cases, glaucoma is associated with high pressure within the eye.

For more information about this condition, please visit the Glaucoma UK website.