Reducing long waits with specialist insourced ophthalmology and oculoplastics services

The Challenge

Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust runs a large multi-site ophthalmology service with significant demand across both routine and specialist eye care. With over 9,000 patients waiting for ophthalmology outpatient appointments and significant numbers of long-waiting patients with progressive eye conditions, the trust needed support to deliver more weekend outpatient clinics and eye surgery. This included a number of highly specialist surgical procedures, such as reconstructive oculoplastics involving grafts, ptosis correction and complex lid repositioning beyond standard blepharoplasty.

The Approach

Medacs rapidly mobilised a multidisciplinary team of specialist consultant surgeons, ODPs, nurses, support workers and administrative staff, overseen by an experienced Consultant Ophthalmologist in Medical Retina whose fellowships in Medical Retina and Uveitis and 20 years of clinical experience gave the trust assurance and continuity from day one.

To integrate with existing services and local protocols, key local nursing staff were onboarded and external staff received department-specific training and IT inductions. Patients were booked into ophthalmology theatre sessions and outpatient clinics across weekdays and weekends, with Medacs surgeons and the trust's booking teams working side by side to plan scheduling and maximise utilisation.

A full outpatient pathway was managed, from new appointments to follow-ups and post-operative returns, supporting patients through treatment until they were clinically ready for discharge. Weekly review meetings gave the team a regular forum to escalate patient concerns and discuss urgent or complex cases needing trust input or specialist post-operative care.

The Results

Working in partnership with the trust, Medacs cleared over 500 patients, prioritising cases where delays could result in avoidable sight loss. The casework was highly complex, with 40% of surgical procedures being the specialist oculoplastics and lid work outlined above. Strong clinic and theatre utilisation was achieved throughout, with no clinical governance concerns raised at any point.

Over the contract period, the trust saw a 36% reduction in 52-week waits for ophthalmology.