Ophthalmology referrals

Eye Emergency Department

Where a referral to the Eye Emergency Department (EED) is appropriate, please follow the process below.

Ask the patient to contact the EED triage line to be given an appropriate arrival time:

• 01865 234567 Option 1 followed by Option 1
  
• Monday to Friday 8.30am - 4.30pm
  
• Saturday and Sunday 8.30am - 3.30pm (including Bank Holidays)
  

Send all EED referrals (E1 and E2 as per OCCG Ophthalmology Referral Guideline) to:

oeh.urgentreferrals@nhs.net

We will not contact the patient on receipt of the referral, so it is important that you ensure the telephone triage line is contacted by the patient or yourself.

The email address is for Eye Emergency referrals only. It is the referrer's responsibility to address the referral appropriately: inappropriate referrals will not be considered.

For further information about the Eye Emergency Department please visit:

Eye emergencies

How to contact Oxford Eye Hospital

Patient identifiable data should only be sent between nhs.net accounts; if this is not possible it should be posted to the department.

By telephone: 01865 234567
Option 1 - for patients
Option 2 - for professionals and staff

Followed by:

• Option 1 - Eye Casualty telephone triage
• Option 2 - surgery and operations date
• Option 3 - Horton General Hospital
• Option 4 - Optometry
• Option 5 - Orthoptics
• Option 6 - outpatient appointments
• Option 7 - secretaries

For email addresses please visit:

Email contacts

Out of hours

For urgent advice, please bleep the on-call Ophthalmologist via the main hospital switchboard.

Tel: 0300 304 7777

Ask for the first or second on-call Ophthalmologist: Bleep 1224 or 1225.

Alternatively call NHS 111 First.

Soon but non-emergency patient referrals

• Refer to GP via normal quickest route.
• GP will know to flag referral as Urgent when loaded on to Directly Bookable Service (e-Referral).
• Help the GP by stating which clinic the patient should be referred to, by selecting appropriate clinic on GOS18 form.
• Please give succinct advice and clarify features which lead to referral to ensure flags are identified on triage.
• Once the referral is received with OEH, the referral will be triaged by an ophthalmologist to ensure clinic time scale is appropriate.

Directly Bookable Service for Ophthalmology

The GP surgery will generate an appointment referral request with appropriate priority (urgent or routine) for the service on e-Referral and UBRN in the usual way.

An electronic proforma or appropriate letter needs to be attached to the e-Referral Service by the surgery within 48 hours for a routine or urgent appointment.

In the case that the Trust cannot provide an immediate appointment, 'Defer to Provider' can be selected and Trust processes will be in place to contact the patient within 48 hours for an urgent or routine appointment.

18WW clock will start on the date the GP or patient makes the appointment booking.

GPs should check their patients have appointments on their e-Referral worklist. This applies to all appointment requests made through e-Referral.

Exclusions

2WW to remain as existing process