UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

HI guys , just trying to do some research here a tthe minute on diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma shared care . Optmetry students work is never done eh!!!!! as in im the republic these are not very popular or enforced at all , was just wondering if any uk optoms out there would have some good info on how these work or would have access to any journals online that would be useful.

Also if any of you guys work/ or have worked in referaction clinics id be very interested to here what sort of work you get involved in .

thanks guys

optom

Hi Optom

There is a wealth of info on the AOP website... Here's the search string for shared care http://www.aop.org.uk/search/site_search.html?query=shared%20care&page=1 but just refine the searches yourself.

If you want to see how shared care ideas from the UK can be used in other countries - check out http://sgho.info/?page_id=268. This is the first fully functioning Hospital eye clinic in Trinidad - which is where I worked a few years ago. Wendy Newsom and Rupert Bourne from Hinchingbrook went across in May to explain how the shared care scheme in Cambridgeshire worked - Trinidad is using that model over there.

Schemes in the UK vary between PCTs and of course, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales all have their own schemes- the Welsh PEARS scheme is an acute referral scheme http://www.optometry.co.uk/articles/docs/11abf8a4c36ed28c3e571b5b0896a855_Arbuthnot41105.pdf

I can help further if you want to email or pm me!

Lynn