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Impact of eye clinic liaison officers: a qualitative study in UK ophthalmology clinics.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:To explore the impact of eye clinic liaison officers (ECLOs, also known as sight loss advisors) on the processes, functions and quality of ophthalmology clinics through the experiences of ophthalmology staff in the UK. DESIGN:Qualitative study. SETTING:UK hospital ophthalmology clinics. PARTICIPANTS:Health and social care professionals in the UK. RESULTS:ECLOs who had a presence in hospital ophthalmology clinics were seen as valuable in streamlining processes within the clinic, particularly in relation to the certification of visual impairment process, and providing continuity of care for patients when they were discharged from medical treatment. ECLOs also saved staff time in the clinic, as they were often responsible for providing emotional and practical support for patients living with sight loss. CONCLUSIONS:ECLOs are well placed in ophthalmology clinics. They can relieve pressure on clinical staff by taking on information giving and referring duties, allowing other staff to focus on their clinical responsibilities. The impact of ECLOs may depend on efficient communication with the clinical team, being trusted by other staff and having a good knowledge of local and national sight loss support services outside of the hospital setting. Further research could enhance our understanding of how much time and associated costs ECLOs substitute in the ophthalmology clinic.

SUBMITTER: Llewellyn M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6443072 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Impact of eye clinic liaison officers: a qualitative study in UK ophthalmology clinics.

Llewellyn Mark M Hilgart Jennifer J Joshi Puja P Williams Aelwyn A

BMJ open 20190303 3

<h4>Objectives</h4>To explore the impact of eye clinic liaison officers (ECLOs, also known as sight loss advisors) on the processes, functions and quality of ophthalmology clinics through the experiences of ophthalmology staff in the UK.<h4>Design</h4>Qualitative study.<h4>Setting</h4>UK hospital ophthalmology clinics.<h4>Participants</h4>Health and social care professionals in the UK.<h4>Results</h4>ECLOs who had a presence in hospital ophthalmology clinics were seen as valuable in streamlining ...[more]

PMID: 30833312

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Project description:ObjectiveExplore the experiences of patients and clinicians in rheumatology and cardiology outpatient clinics during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the impact of remote consultations on interpersonal dynamics.DesignQualitative study using semistructured interviews, conducted between February and June 2021.SettingThe rheumatology and cardiology departments of a general hospital in England, UK.ParticipantsAll clinicians and a convenience sample of 100 patients in each department who had taken part in a remote consultation in the past month were invited to take part. Twenty-five interviews were conducted (13 with patients, 12 with clinicians).ResultsThree themes were developed through the analysis: adapting to the dynamics of remote consultations, impact on the patient's experience and impact on the clinician's experience. The majority of remote consultations experienced by both patients and clinicians had been via telephone. Both clinicians and patients found remote consultations to be more business-like and focused, with the absence of pauses restricting time for reflection. For patients with stable, well-managed conditions, remote consultations were felt to be appropriate and could be more convenient than in-person consultations. However, the loss of visual cues meant some patients felt they could not give a holistic view of their condition and limited clinicians' ability to gather and convey information. Clinicians adjusted their approach by asking more questions, checking understanding more frequently and expressing empathy verbally, but felt patients still shared fewer concerns remotely than in person; a perception with which patients concurred.ConclusionsThese findings highlight the importance of ensuring, for each patient, that remote care is appropriate. Future research should focus on developing ways to support both clinicians and patients to gather and provide all information necessary during remote consultations, to enhance communication and trust.

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Project description:ObjectivesTo understand the incidence and types of medication prescribing errors in a low resource setting ophthalmology clinic and to determine the impact of a preprinted prescription based on the hospital formulary (FormularyScript) on medication prescribing errors.DesignNon-randomised interventional study.SettingOphthalmology clinic in a teaching hospital in northeast Thailand.Participants4349 handwritten prescriptions collected from October 2009 to December 2009, and 4146 FormularyScripts collected from February 2010 to May 2010.Primary and secondary outcome measuresAll prescriptions from the handwritten and FormularyScript groups were analysed for medication error rates by types (legibility, ambiguous, incomplete, abbreviation and accuracy) and subtypes (drug name, strength, which eye, route and dispensed amount).ResultsComparison of error rates in the two groups showed a 10-fold reduction in the overall error rate using FormularyScript (32.9%-3.5%, p<0.001). FormularyScripts were associated with statistically significant (p<0.001) decreases in the following error types: legibility (16.1%-0.1%), incomplete (16.1%-0.1%) and abbreviation (3.1%-0.3%). There was no statistically significant change in accuracy errors (0.8%-0.6%, p=0.21). Ambiguous errors increased with FormularyScripts (0.6%-2.5%, p<0.001), likely due to the introduction of new ways to make errors. Decreases were seen in all legibility, abbreviation and accuracy error subtypes, and four out of six incomplete error subtypes. There were statistically significant increases in both ambiguous error subtypes: which eye (0.3%-2.5%, p<0.001) and drug name (0.3%-0.6%, p=0.03).ConclusionsIn our study population, outpatient medication prescribing errors were common and primarily due to legibility and incomplete error types. A preprinted prescription form has the potential to decrease medication prescribing errors related to legibility, incomplete prescribing information and use of unacceptable abbreviations without changing the overall rate of accuracy errors. However, new error types can occur.

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Dataset Information

Impact of eye clinic liaison officers: a qualitative study in UK ophthalmology clinics.

Publications

Impact of eye clinic liaison officers: a qualitative study in UK ophthalmology clinics.

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