Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has completed a pilot project in the use of a digital platform for sharing information between local optometrists.
It has now begun to invite all optometrists around Cambridgeshire to sign up to the Cinapsis SmartReferrals platform as part of wider roll out.
The pilot began in October and involved another NHS trust that has preferred not to be named. It involved participating optometrists being able to access advice from colleagues at Addenbrooke’s, Hinchingrooke and Peterborough City Hospitals.
Cinapsis said the platform, designed by an NHS surgeon and a team of healthcare specialists, provides for the instant and safe transfer of high resolution images, documents, complete OCT scans and videos between mobile devices, and is integrated with pathways to directly refer patients to secondary care or any commissioned community care provider.
Need for intuitive solutions
Alison Lask, optometrist, commissioning lead at Cambridgeshire Local Optical Committee and clinical governance performance lead at Primary Eyecare (Cambridgeshire), said: “For too long, optometrists have been forced to work with outdated technologies that eat up their time and get in the way of delivering efficient patient care. My colleagues and I need solutions that are intuitive to use and are designed to relieve workloads rather than add to them.”
She added: "I can now access advice and guidance whilst my patients are in the consulting room, and in just a few minutes I can manage their secondary care referral directly from the Cinapsis platform. This is the future of collaborative eyecare delivery in Cambridgeshire.”
Dominic Markham, project delivery manager at Cinapsis, said it aiming to partner with more NHS trusts in the coming months.
