Urgent Eye Care in the UK Increased Demand and Challenges for the Future

Urgent eye care services in the UK have been facing increasing number of attendances over the recent years with hospitals struggling to keep up with the demand. The high number of patients presenting to these services poses great challenges for their sustainability. Inappropriate referrals, the introduction of the European Working Time Directive for junior doctors, the “never refuse” policy of some casualty eye services- ophthalmic Accident and Emergency departments, as well as, the lack of equipment and experience in primary care are some of the main causes of this phenomenon. Several studies and audits have demonstrated that the majority of urgent eye care attendances can be managed safely outside hospital. For this reason, numerous solutions and innovative schemes have been proposed in order to shift urgent eye care towards the community. Among others, the increased use of emergency ophthalmic nurse practitioners, the use of optometrists ,as a first point of contact for urgent cases, and better training of General Practitioners and A E doctors have been proposed.