Micro-costing the provision of emotional support and information in UK eye clinics

Abstract

BackgroundSight loss has wide ranging implications for an individual in terms of education, employment, mobility and mental health. Therefore there is a need for information and support to be provided in eye clinics at the point of diagnosis of sight threatening conditions, but these aspects of care are often missing from clinics. To meet these needs, some clinics employ an Eye Clinic Liaison Officer (ECLO) but the position has yet to be widely implemented. The aims of this study were:(1) To evaluate the forms of advice and emotional support in eye clinics provided by ECLOs.(2) To determine the cost of the ECLO service per patient.MethodsMicro-costing was carried out using interviews, a survey and administrative data. The survey was completed by 18 of the 49 accredited ECLOs in the UK (37%) and provided information on the activities performed by ECLOs, numbers of patients seen per day, training costs incurred and the salary of the ECLOs.ResultsECLOs provided information about the services in eye clinics and the community, referral to social services, emotional support to patients and also other advice. The cost of an ECLO per patient per contact was £17.94 based on an average annual ECLO salary of £23,349.60 per year, reviewing on average 9.1 patients per day, in a 42 week year.ConclusionsThis study provides the first costing of support services in hospital eye clinics, providing a range of estimates to suit the circumstances of different clinics. The information can be used by local decision makers to estimate the cost of implementing an ECLO service.

Eye clinic liaison officers service in the United Kingdom

“…Whilst costing is complex and would need to take into account other factors, the underlying principle here is that this would be significantly less than the cost of a clinical consultation. Recognising the need for the ECLO service and the provision of appropriate funding by commissioners are important steps towards the provision of equal levels of care throughout the UK . Furthermore, it has been suggested that ECLOs may expand their services to provide patients with appropriate clinical information about sight threatening conditions at the point of diagnosis.…”

“…Furthermore, it has been suggested that ECLOs may expand their services to provide patients with appropriate clinical information about sight threatening conditions at the point of diagnosis. We would caution against this as patients often request specific clinical information, and the provision of inaccurate or generic information may be detrimental . Clinical information should be made widely available in the eye clinics in the form of leaflets, DVDs, or taped recordings as this aspect of care may be missing.…”

“…Recognising the need for the ECLO service and the provision of appropriate funding by commissioners are important steps towards the provision of equal levels of care throughout the UK. 3 Furthermore, it has been suggested that ECLOs may expand their services to provide patients with appropriate clinical information about sight threatening conditions at the point of diagnosis. We would caution against this as patients often request specific clinical information, and the provision of inaccurate or generic information may be detrimental.…”

“…Eye clinic liaison officers (ECLO) (also called Vision Support Officers in Scotland) provide emotional and practical support to patients, which complements the clinical services in such a way that clinicians alone would not have the ability or the manpower to provide. In addition to improvements in patients' experience and welfare, the ECLO service increases the productivity of clinicians, making it a worthy investment for many departments …”

“…In addition to improvements in patients' experience and welfare, the ECLO service increases the productivity of clinicians, making it a worthy investment for many departments. 3 We aimed to examine the role of ECLOs in the UK and analyse patient details as well as demographics. Our study presents the largest dataset illustrating details of the ECLO service provision in the UK.…”