Award recognition for Gloucestershire Community Ophthalmic Link

The collaborative eye care project received a Health Service Journal Partnership Award for Most Impactful Use of Technology on Clinical Practice

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Health Service Journal Awards

Kimberley Young

28 March 2025

A collaborative eye care project supporting joined-up care closer to home in Gloucestershire has received an award in recognition of its use of technology.

The Community Ophthalmic Link Project received the award in the Most Impactful Use of Technology on Clinical Practice category at the Health Service Journal Partnership Awards 2025.

The OphthalSuite Community Ophthalmic Link was developed by BlueWorks OIMS alongside NHS Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Gloucestershire Local Optical Committee.

Launched by the NHS in Gloucester in 2022, the system enables community optometrists to access patients’ eye health records quickly and securely.

Through the system, optometrists in the community can access secondary care eye examination results in real-time and search information and statistics, including comparing exams and ophthalmic imaging taken over different periods.

Clinicians also have secure access to view patients’ ophthalmology data, including photos, scans, videos, metadata, GP letters and care plans.

Dr Graham Mennie, clinical lead for the programme for NHS Gloucestershire and chair of the Gloucestershire Eye Health Clinical Programme Group, said: “Our Ophthalmic Link Project shows just how much difference we can make to our patients when we work together as a system.”

“The concept is very simple but the hard work and collaboration has been essential to our success. This award is for everyone who has helped make this project happen,” Mennie said.

All 66 optical practices in the county, as well as 250 optometrists and dispensing opticians, have signed up for the project.

Ankur Trivedi, member of the Gloucestershire Local Optical Committee, commented: “The Community Ophthalmic Link is revolutionising the way community optical practices operate in our county. With access to vital data, our community optometrist and optician colleagues are more informed and effective than ever.”

“We have heard countless stories from our peers about how significantly this system has saved time, making their work not only easier but also enhancing patient care,” he said.

The system was the first of its kind in the country when it launched three years ago and has meant Gloucestershire is the first area to provide complete digital records to optometrists working in the community.

Kerry O’Hara, programme director, clinical programmes at NHS Gloucestershire, helped to lead the project and commented: “We are now three years into the Community Ophthalmic Link Project, and we are so proud of the difference it is making.

The award recognises the difference that can be made by working in partnership with hospital and local optical committee colleagues, as well as people with lived experience, O’Hara shared.

O’Hara continued: “We know patients are benefiting from care closer to home, in the community where they live, and we are reducing travel to hospital, saving costs and ultimately improving the experience for anyone who needs optometry care in Gloucestershire.”

Scott Vallance, head of ophthalmic vision and science at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The project has successfully bridged gaps across eye care, using technology to improve access and outcomes for our patients.”