Course: Advances in Eyecare: Referrals, Section: Unit 2

General

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An in-depth exploration of the referrals process in the UK, hosted by BBC presenter John Waite.

We travel the length and breadth of the country, interviewing practitioners and policy makers, to find out how the referrals process works across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. We look specifically at how emergency, urgent and routine referrals should be handled according to national guidelines and local protocols, framing the discussion around dramatised case studies.

To establish best practice, we speak to proponents of innovative regional referral refinement schemes that are improving efficiency and offering increasing opportunities for optometrists to manage conditions in-practice, to reduce unnecessary referrals and decrease the burden on secondary care.

Last published: December 2017

Unit 2 - Emergency referrals (~17 mins)

This unit includes a discussion of the national guidelines available to optometrists. Dr Sue Blakeney goes through the guidelines from the College of Optometrists, Geoff Roberson looks at how local protocols can vary and how it is important for practitioners to be aware of these variations and emphasises the need for understanding when emergency referral is appropriate, and Dr Dan Rosser describes the rules for referral of suspect retinal detachment in the Norfolk area.