An extended role for the hospital optometrist

The management of patients within shared care programmes would seem to have significant benefits in terms of individuals' convenience, addressing resource needs and expanding professional horizons. To date, these schemes have typically concentrated on the monitoring of patients with diabetes and glaucoma. At Moorfields Eye Hospital, we attempted to develop the role of the hospital optometrist by establishing a study to evaluate the clinical appraisal of new referrals in a busy out-patient clinic. The results showed a high level of diagnostic accuracy which suggests that the role of hospital optometrists may be successfully extended to include some aspects of patient evaluation not typically undertaken.