Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System is to launch a new electronic eye-care referral system between optometrists and ophthalmology service providers.
The system has been procured by NHS England and is set to be launched across the integrated care system early next year.
It will replace “a range of referral arrangements in place” using paper letters and fax machines, and a “mixture of inherited systems and individual processes used by different services”.
The ICS said by using a shared system that it hopes it will provide “better, easier, and quicker communication between referrers and providers” and notes that “using clear forms and digital eye images will enable the right information to be shared early and a better clinical understanding of a patient’s condition”.
Following go-live, the ICS aims to view data from the system from across the services and identify trends to address any areas of inequality.
