Demonstrating the potential of CUES: Nottinghamshire pilot rolls out

A pilot to provide community urgent eyecare services (CUES) through optometry practices has launched in Nottinghamshire.

The pilot has seen six participating practices receive funding to see patients who are eligible for CUES and gather data to build a picture of demand and impact.

The Local Optical Committee (LOC) secured funding through the Local Eye Health Network (LEHN).

Roma Malik, chair of Nottinghamshire LOC, explained that working closely with the LEHN chair, Farra Hargreaves, and the Local Optical Committee Support Unit (LOCSU), the LOC was able to design and implement the pilot.

“This is a time-limited pilot rather than a commissioned service. It enables participating practices to be funded to see patients who are eligible for CUES within the community,” Malik explained.

Malik told OT: “The primary aim of the pilot is to demonstrate the potential benefits of managing urgent eye conditions within primary care. This includes assessing the impact such a service may have on reducing avoidable attendances in eye casualty and easing pressure on secondary care.”

“Importantly, the pilot is also designed to gather activity and clinical outcome data. This will help to build a clearer picture of demand and impact, which can be used to inform future conversations with the ICB about the potential role of a commissioned service,” she added.

The primary aim of the pilot is to demonstrate the potential benefits of managing urgent eye conditions within primary care

Designing a pilot

Describing how the pilot was developed, Malik said: “As this was our first time delivering a pilot of this kind, we established a small sub-group to oversee the process.”

This included Indy Atwal as LOC treasurer, who managed financial aspects, Mo Aslam as clinical lead, Sam Stretton as administrator coordinating practice sign-ups and managing operational delivery, and Malik as LOC chair, providing clinical input and liaising with the LEHN and LOCSU.

Aslam and Malik also developed the clinical specification with support from the LOCSU advancement lead, Fionnuala Kidd, “to ensure the pilot is safe, robust and aligned with national guidance.”

The committee chose to engage Primary Eyecare Services to deliver the pilot and utilise their systems for data capture and reporting, with experience in delivering similar pathways elsewhere.

“A key focus from the outset has been to ensure that the pilot generates meaningful data to support future discussions around service development,” Malik said.

Demonstrating value and informing discussions

Reflecting on the launch of the pilot, Malik told OT: “For the LOC, the roll-out of this pilot represents an important opportunity to better understand how a community-based urgent eye care pathway could work in practice.”

Though it is not a commissioned service, the pilot is a “key step” in demonstrating the potential value of the model.

Malik added: “By gathering data and insights from delivery, we will be in a stronger position to engage in informed discussions with the ICB and other stakeholders about future service development.”

“Ultimately, the pilot is about building an evidence base – understanding demand, clinical outcomes, and system impact – so that any future decisions about commissioning are well-informed and aligned with patient and system needs,” she shared.