Independent Prescribing Optometrists in Acute Ophthalmic Services
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Independent prescribing optometrists in Manchester Royal Eye Hospital's Acute Ophthalmic Services (UK); how do their diagnostic, prescribing and management decisions compare with consultant ophthalmologists?
IRAS ID
173527
Contact name
Hannah Bartlett
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Aston University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
The UK government's Crown report titled 'Review of prescribing, supply & administration of medicines' enabled optometrists to train for the qualification of independent prescribing (IP). The UK introduced IP for optometrists in 2009. The proposed research focuses on the role of IP optometrist in the acute ophthalmic services of Manchester Royal Eye Hospital (MREH). The study will compare IP optometrists to consultant ophthalmologists in the ability to diagnose, manage and prescribe medication for patients accessing these services.
To achieve this comparison consenting participants will first have a clinical assessment with the IP Optometrist, where findings including diagnosis and management plan will be recorded onto a research proforma. The IP optometrist's proforma will be masked to the consultant ophthalmologist to prevent bias. The consultant ophthalmologist will then perform a clinical assessment on a second proforma and inform the participant of their diagnosis and management plan. Percentage agreement, kappa (κ) and weighted κ will be calculated for a range of parameters between the two proformas. Disagreement in diagnosis or management will be arbitrated by a separate ophthalmologist participating in the study with a specialty relevant to the participant's condition.
The main objective of the research is to expand the limited base of evidence of IP optometrists’ ability to diagnose, manage and prescribe medication. This will determine whether IP optometrists work at least as safely and effectively as consultant ophthalmologists in acute ophthalmic services. It is the first study in this area since the advent of IP for optometrists, with only one previous study published before IP was introduced. The research will enable the type and frequency of conditions presenting in these services to be measured. Furthermore it will identify conditions that IP optometrists can manage independently and enable guidelines for these conditions to be developed.REC name
North West - Greater Manchester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NW/0433
Date of REC Opinion
2 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion