02 July 2025
OT in partnership with the AOP held its inaugural Glaucoma Day on 29 June, providing a series of webinar education presenting the latest in diagnostics, monitoring, and treatment strategies for glaucoma.
The online event featured four webinars with topics ranging from record keeping, to surgery, functional assessment, to referrals.
The day opened with a session on minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS), sponsored by CHEC. Led by Indira Madgula, consultant ophthalmic surgeon and glaucoma specialist at the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the session explored how to communicate the purpose and benefits of MIGS to patients with glaucoma.
Dr Victoria Stapley, optometrist and lecturer at Ulster University, presented a lecture on Functional assessment of glaucoma in primary care. Stapley explored the vital role of functional assessment, with a focus on visual field testing using perimetry, current limitations, and the possibilities to improve accuracy and reliability.
Stapley is a member of the Research and Evaluation of Area-Modulation Perimetry (REVAMP) study team, a collaboration between Cardiff University, University College London, and Ulster University, to develop approved methods for detecting and monitoring the functional consequences of glaucoma.
Experts from the AOP presented the third webinar of the day: Glaucoma through the ages. Drawing from past glaucoma-related clinical negligence cases, Kevin Wallace, clinical adviser for the AOP, and Emma Gilbride, solicitor in the AOP’s clinical negligence directorate, discussed the need for honesty and candour, even when things go wrong, and how to maintain adequate patient records.
The day closed with a lecture, sponsored by Specsavers, in which Neil Retallic, head of professional development, and Sam Lea, clinical lead optometrist, discussed referral pathways, higher qualifications, and risk profiles for glaucoma.
Dr Ian Beasley, head of education at the AOP and OT clinical editor, commented: “Glaucoma Day was a huge success, bringing together hundreds of practitioners with different levels of experience to update and consolidate their knowledge across a range of key themes.”
Recordings of the Glaucoma Day webinars can be watched on-demand from OT’s Education library.
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