Working Together with Local HES
27 August 2026
Working Together with Local Hospital Eye Services
York Ophthalmology & North Yorkshire LOC Hold Inaugural Meeting on Emergency Care Pathways
York Hospital’s Ophthalmology Team and the North Yorkshire Local Optical Committee (LOC) have held their first formal joint meeting, marking the start of closer collaboration on emergency and urgent eye care referral pathways across our region to reduce delays and improve patient outcomes.
Inaugural Meeting Highlights:
- Chair: Sarah Anderson (Consultant Ophthalmologist, York).
- LOC Representation: Katherine Friis (Chair), Mel Linegar (Co-Secretary), and Sejal Patel (IP Optometrist, Pocklington).
- York HES Representation: Rachel Hedges (Ophthalmology Sister), Naomi Wigley (Nurse Practitioner, Urgent Eye Service), and Annette Wardman (Operations Manager).
- Core Aims: Clarifying urgent triage criteria, streamlining hospital communication channels, and utilising community IP optometrists to manage lower-acuity cases.
- Regional Integration: Dialogue will continue in partnership with Harrogate HES to develop unified regional guidance.
Guidance for Referrals to York Eye Hospital
To ensure referrals are triaged safely and efficiently without risk of lost or mismatched data, practitioners must follow these protocol standards:
Always use a structured subject line (avoid vague labels like “Referral” or “Patient query”):
REFERRAL – [Patient Surname, First Name] – DOB [DD/MM/YYYY] – [First Line of Address]
Urgent cases: Flag clearly at the very start (e.g. URGENT REFERRAL – ...).
Scans & Images: Every attached image or OCT file should also include patient identifiers in its name (e.g. Right OCT, Smith,John DOB010160, 10CastleRoad) to avoid misallocation.
When following up a verbal/telephone discussion in writing, explicitly link the email to create an audit trail:
FOLLOW-UP TO PHONE REFERRAL (called [Date/Time], spoke to [Name if known]) – [Patient Surname, First Name] – DOB [DD/MM/YYYY] – [First Line of Address]
Linking the email directly prevents duplicate triage and preserves clinical urgency context.
We are continuing to work towards clearer guidelines for referral urgency across regional hospital trusts and will share updates as they are agreed.
Questions or Feedback?
If you have concerns or queries regarding local HES referral pathways:
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