SIBA
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Questionnaire based study to evaluate patient experience and attendance rates in Digital Eye Clinics in London
IRAS ID
347654
Contact name
Ling Zhi Heng
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Moorfields Eye hospital nhs foundation trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The National Health Service (NHS) is facing unprecedented backlog in patient attendances in clinics as we return from the pandemic. This backlog is further impacted by the shortage of staff. To cope with backlogs, many Trusts have initiated Digital Eye Clinic Services. An appointment to a digital eye clinic or virtual clinic means that the nurses and allied healthcare professionals in the clinic will update the patient’s medical history in the electronic medical records and technicians will perform all the required tests and the patient leaves without having a face to face consultation with the doctor. The updated medical history and tests will be reviewed remotely by the medical team and a follow-up letter will be sent to the patient and his/her general practitioner with the planned follow-up appointment. The patient may also require a telephone consultation or a face to face consultation with the medical team and these will also be arranged.
The medical retina digital eye clinic services in Moorfields Eye Hospital (MEH) sees approximately 40,000 patients a year from across 16 Moorfields sites in London. The patients seen come from diverse ethnicity, social and economic backgrounds. The safety and efficacy of the digital pathways have been proven and published. However, early and small-sampled audit results from these digital services indicate that about 4 times more patients ‘did not attend’ (DNA) as compared to national standards. Early verbal feedback from the service is generally positive but concerns have also been raised on digitialisation of the service.
The purpose of the study is to accurately assess and provide evidence on the DNA rates across all Moorfields digital clinics serving medical retina patients. We aim to study the patient experience as well as the common reasons for non-attendance. We have also made some suggestions of improving the service from verbal feedback from patients but we aim to obtain formal feedback through a topic specific questionnaire. Lastly, we aim to evaluate the factors that influence patient experience and attendance at these digital eye clinics.
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/NW/0296
Date of REC Opinion
4 Nov 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion