Community Eye Care Services
The enhanced community eye care services are commissioned/managed by
Primary Eyecare Cornwall & Isles of Scilly (PECCIS)
Full information of these services can be found on their website
Eye Care Services Information
For many years, the NHS has encouraged the delivery of routine and minor urgent eye care services within community optometry practices rather than hospital settings. This helps reduce pressure on hospital eye departments while supporting the growing demand created by an ageing and increasing population.
In Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, a range of enhanced community eye care services are commissioned by Primary Eyecare Cornwall & Isles of Scilly (PECCIS) and delivered safely by specially trained community optometrists working within local eye care pathways linked to hospital services where appropriate.
These services allow many patients with eye health concerns to be assessed, managed, and often treated closer to home without the need to attend hospital. This can be particularly beneficial for elderly or vulnerable patients who may find travelling to hospital difficult.
Key benefits include:
- Greater patient choice, with appointments available at local and familiar practices
- Faster access to assessment and care
- More convenient appointment times, including evenings and weekends at some practices
- More time to discuss eye health concerns and receive reassurance from clinicians
Further information on each pathway, including eligibility, referral criteria, and service guidance, is available below and on the PECCIS website.
Post-Operative Cataract Pathway
After a cataract operation, where there have been no complications from the surgery and you don’t suffer from any other eye conditions, the hospital may give you a choice of accredited high street opticians practices who can perform your follow up appointment 4-8 weeks after the operation.
This saves you from having to return to the hospital outpatients for follow-up. The Optometrist examines your eye to ensure that it has healed and to ensure there are no complications developing as a result of the surgery. Your vision is also checked at this appointment to ensure that you have a good visual outcome.
Full Information available directly with PECCIS
GAT Refinement & OHT Monitoring
The Goldmann Applanation Tonometry (GAT) Refinement Service enables community optometrists to provide more accurate intraocular pressure measurements following an initial screening result. By repeating measurements using GAT, this service helps to reduce false positives and unnecessary hospital referrals. It supports earlier, more reliable clinical decision-making and contributes to easing pressure on hospital eye services by managing appropriate patients within the community.
The Ocular Hypertension (OHT) Monitoring Service allows suitable patients with stable ocular hypertension to be safely monitored within community optometry practices, in line with NICE guidance. Regular assessments, including IOP, visual fields and optic nerve evaluation, are carried out locally, with clear referral pathways in place if any progression is detected. This service improves patient convenience, reduces the need for hospital visits, and helps to free up capacity within secondary care.
Full Information available directly with PECCIS
Minor Eye Condition Service (MECS)
The Minor Eye Conditions Service (MECS) enables patients with recent or urgent eye problems to be assessed promptly by specially trained community optometrists and dispensing opticians, often without the need to attend their GP, A&E, or hospital eye department. The service provides rapid access to high-quality eye care, with urgent cases typically seen within 24 hours and non-urgent cases within 14 days.
MECS supports the early assessment and management of a wide range of minor eye conditions within community practice, while ensuring appropriate and timely referral to hospital eye services where necessary. By managing suitable patients locally, the service helps to reduce unnecessary hospital attendances and ease pressure on both secondary care and GP services.
Minor eye conditions commonly seen through the service include red or painful eyes, sudden blurred or reduced vision, and symptoms such as flashes and floaters, particularly where these changes have developed recently.
Full Information available directly with PECCIS
Get Involved
Practices may register their interest in offering these enhanced services by contacting PECCIS with the link below.
Practitioners may require additional qualifications/certifications to be able to deliver these enhanced services. Information for this can be found below.
Full Information available directly with PECCIS