Purpose Demands on publicly funded ophthalmic services worldwide continue to increase with new treatments, waiting time targets, working time limits, and restricted budgets. These highlight the necessity to develop innovative ways of utilising existing capacity more effectively. Method A new regional, fully electronic ophthalmic-referral service with digital imaging was trialled using existing information-technology (IT) infrastructure.
Aims To evaluate the current visual status and ophthalmic history of a sample of elderly patients with fractured neck of femur and to study the relationship between visual status and demographic factors. Methods A four-centre study of all patients admitted to hospital with fractured neck of femur. The setting was two district (Ayr, Dunfermline) and two teaching (Glasgow, Dundee) hospitals in Scotland. The study examined 537 patients aged 65 years and over admitted with acute fractured neck of femur to hospital.
Andrew Blaikie and colleagues discuss the Arclight, a cheap, portable device for use in low and middle income countries that was inspired by a Christmas article in The BMJ
There was significantly poor optometric and ophthalmic contact in patients who had VI and had fallen and sustained hip fracture. A proportion of the VI (66%) was due to uncorrected refractive error and untreated cataract. Public health providers should be made aware of the fact that current optometric and ophthalmic care pathways are not accessed by this group of elderly patients with VI and at risk of falling.
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