Glaucoma Awareness Month - new NHS service launched

This comes as Optegra launches a new, free NHS treatment service for glaucoma patients in and around Manchester. The key to protecting your vision is to have regular eye health checks – as glaucoma does not have any symptoms in its earliest stages but can be detected in an eye test. As soon as it starts to impact your vision, those affects cannot be reversed and so early treatment is essential. And Optegra’s new NHS treatment centre in Manchester is already helping to provide free, accessible treatment and relieving long waiting lists for glaucoma treatment. Firstly, what is glaucoma? Glaucoma is a common sight-threatening condition where the pressure of the eye causes damage to the optic nerve, leading to blurred vision or rainbow-coloured circles in vision. It can occur at any age but is more common in older adults. In the UK it is estimated that around 2% of people over the age of 40 have open angle glaucoma, the most common form. The prevalence increases with age, affecting 10% of those over 75[1]. Without treatment it will progress and vision will deteriorate.

What are the symptoms? Approximately 700,000 people in the UK have glaucoma[2] with many cases undiagnosed due to the lack of symptoms in the early stages. Regular eye examinations are crucial for early detection and management, however depending on the type and stages of the disease some symptoms may be experienced:

· Patchy blind spots in your side (peripheral) or central vision, often in both eyes· Tunnel vision in the advanced stages· Nausea/Pain/Haloes around lights and reduced vision (Angle-closure glaucoma)

What are the options for treatment? Treatment for glaucoma can’t reverse any loss of vision that has already occurred but it can help stop your vision getting worse. Options include eye drops, laser therapy and surgery. How Optegra can help?

Consultant ophthalmic surgeon, and glaucoma lead at Optegra, Mr Robert Petrarca, explains: “Optegra is supporting Glaucoma Awareness Month to help highlight the treatment options available to patients. The treatment pathway can vary for glaucoma patients, from those whose condition is stable and low-risk and who are regularly monitored at their community optometrist, to those with more complex, high-risk cases who need surgical intervention or treatment at a Trust hospital. “However, there is a large cohort of patients in the middle who need to be monitored by glaucoma specialists and this is where we at Optegra can help.” A new NHS service to support glaucoma patients has been launched at Optegra Eye Hospital Manchester.

The free service means that glaucoma patients whose condition has changed can be monitored and reviewed by expert surgeons and offered treatment as necessary. These are patients who need a specialist, which cannot be provided by their local optician practice, and to date have had no option but to be put on waiting lists for their Trust hospital.

Optegra Eye Hospital Manchester, based in Didsbury, can treat patients within just a few weeks of referral from the local optometrist. Specialist interventions available at Optegra include adjustments to medication (a drop regime to manage eye pressure), laser surgery or a stent procedure to drain fluid to relieve pressure.

Mr Petrarca continues: “With the new monitoring, review and treatment service, we will only need to refer those who need complex trabeculectomy surgery on to Trusts - which means speedier access to treatment, as well as helping relieve Trust waiting lists for glaucoma.” Optegra Eye Health Care is a specialist provider of ophthalmic services. Established in 2007, it has completed over one million eye procedures from its 40 eye hospitals and clinics across the UK, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Holland.

Optegra brings together leading-edge research, medical expertise and state-of-the-art surgical equipment. It performs more than 100,000 treatments annually, both private and publicly funded. Its top ophthalmic surgeons are renowned for their areas of expertise, offering excellent clinical outcomes and great patient service. www.optegra.com