World Glaucoma Week (9–15 March) is ‘Uniting for a Glaucoma-Free World’ with eyecare innovation high on the list of priorities amid an estimated 150,000 people in Scotland living with the condition.
Supported by formal NHS Scotland partner InnoScot Health, the annual initiative of the World Glaucoma Association (WGA) aims to raise awareness of what is considered the leading global cause of preventable irreversible blindness.
Last year, InnoScot Health welcomed a £2 million Scottish Government investment aimed at reducing short-term ophthalmology waiting times – but still believes that the focus must remain on embedding longer-term innovation.
The organisation says that the Scottish population has historically suffered from chronic long-term eye diseases, and the multi-faceted, often interlinked issues causing them now requires more advanced approaches alongside efforts to enhance awareness and encourage regular eye tests.
Innovation Manager Frances Ramsay insists that forward-thinking ophthalmic solutions can instil a more sustainable service that helps to prevent further exacerbation of waiting times in future and detect glaucoma in its earliest stages.
She believes World Glaucoma Week is a key annual event for encouraging better preventative understanding and collaborative thinking.
Frances said: “It is undoubtedly an exciting time for innovation in the field of glaucoma detection and treatment, all aimed at improving early diagnosis and more effective management of the disease. Scotland has to be alive to the possibilities.
“Worldwide, we are seeing an increasing focus on such advancements as artificial intelligence-powered image analysis for early detection, genetic testing for risk assessment, and novel drug delivery systems.
“While some of these solutions are not available to us yet, we should be setting our sights on laying the groundwork for their eventual implementation now, creating a more resilient health service.
“World Glaucoma Week is also a reminder that the NHS Scotland workforce can drive that work by leveraging its vast knowledge and deep understanding of patient needs, together with analysis of where bottlenecks occur and identification of smarter, more innovative approaches to solving them.
“NHS Scotland staff with a vision for ophthalmic innovation must be encouraged to use World Glaucoma Week as their focus for inspiring lasting change during this pivotal period of renewal.”
Scotland’s launch of the NHS Community Glaucoma Service in 2023 has demonstrated the potential of independent prescribing optometrists to support eye care at a national level, helping up to 20,000 stable glaucoma patients to be discharged from hospital eye services into the community.
However, ophthalmic innovation from within NHS Scotland can yet unlock more solutions amid an increasing number of treatments for glaucoma patients, including fresh laser-led and minimally invasive procedures.
Frances continued: “Progressive thinking can transform pressured ophthalmic services, and the 180,000-strong NHS Scotland workforce can take a lead on grasping its possibilities in this priority area.
“Ophthalmology responds to a complex mixture of treating the increasing needs of an ageing population, management of life-long issues, and one-off surgical interventions.
“In order to ease demand, Scotland’s forward-thinking workforce should feel empowered to make a vital contribution to an eye-opening future through the submission of ideas, whether simple or complex.”
Encouraging NHS Scotland’s diverse workforce to come up with new ideas that achieve better outcomes in pressured ophthalmology is vital and at the heart of InnoScot Health’s latest innovation call.
The call offers a package of support to health and social care staff, including advice and guidance in such areas as intellectual property protection, regulation, funding, project management, and commercialisation.
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