New Initiative Speeds Up Eye Care and Minimises Travel for Devon Patients
A new service launching across Devon is set to transform how local opticians access specialist advice, helping to improve patient care, reduce unnecessary hospital referrals and support communities across the county.
Devon Eyes has introduced its Advice & Guidance service, designed to give community opticians quick, direct access to consultant ophthalmologists when they need guidance on patient cases.
The service allows opticians to seek specialist input without a formal referral, providing reassurance on complex or borderline cases and ensuring patients receive the right care, at the right time.
Demand for eye care in Devon is rising, with nearly 96,000 hospital outpatient appointments recorded in 2023–24, an 8% increase on the previous year. Many patients face long waits, with almost two thirds waiting over four months, and those in rural areas often needing to travel significant distances for care.
Services like Advice & Outreach help address these challenges by giving optometrists rapid access to specialist advice, enabling quicker decisions, reducing unnecessary referrals, and ensuring patients can receive timely care closer to home.
Sam Evans, Founder for Devon Eyes said: “Opticians are often the first point of contact for patients with eye concerns, and they do an incredible job. With Advice & Guidance, we’re giving them a direct line to specialist input when they need it, whether that’s reassurance, guidance, or a second opinion. This is particularly valuable in Devon, where travel to hospital services can be challenging for many patients. Our goal is to support opticians, speed up decision-making, and improve outcomes locally.”
By reducing avoidable referrals and enabling faster clinical decisions, the service also helps ease pressure on hospital eye services, while keeping care closer to home for patients across Devon.
The Advice & Guidance service is now being rolled out to opticians across the county, with early feedback highlighting its simplicity, clinical value, and potential to improve patient care.
