A Welcome Sight
Many outpatient clinics are currently suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic and services in the NHS have had to find innovative ways in which to engage with patients to maintain and provide treatment.
The Orthoptic service based in the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend, is one of the services helping their patients with the development of a video and accompanying information package which can be accessed at home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_KRuIkJ4XM&t
Orthoptists are the experts in diagnosing and treating defects in eye movement and problems with how the eyes work together, called binocular vision.
Lorraine Floyd, an orthoptist at the hospital, created the package for patients who use the Bridgend Eye Clinic.
Lorraine, said: “I came up with the idea for patients to fit a Fresnel Prism themselves to their glasses, as this is quite a simple procedure but it has huge benefit for patients with double vision.
“A Fresnel Prism is a temporary treatment in the form of a plastic film attached to glasses lens, to help with double vision.
“Double vision occurs because eyes are not straight. The prism helps by bending the light as it enters the eye so that the image is seen at the correct point at the back of the eye even though the eye is still turning.
“When glasses with the prism are worn, people should not notice double vision.”
As patients are currently unable to attend clinics at the hospital, the information regarding Fresnel Prism is sent to patients to enable them to fit their own prism to their glasses, without the need to attend hospital.
The feedback from patients who have accessed this information has been positive.
Mrs Angela Carl from Bridgend, said: “The treatment was fantastic. We contacted the orthoptic department and within half an hour someone called. They arranged for the prism and information to be hand delivered. The tutorial was great and my son is very happy with the prism which we managed to fit perfectly. We even got a call back to ensure we had managed ok. Absolutely brilliant, thank you so much!”
Caroline Morris, assistant head orthoptist, said: “This has been really innovative and fantastic work from Lorraine who developed this. It has had a huge positive impact on our ability to effectively treat patients remotely and we will continue to use this in the future. I am immensely proud of the work she does.”
Karen Phillips, head of orthoptic services, said: “Lorraine is a hugely experienced clinician who can always be relied on to come up with a solution to any problem. I’m so grateful to have such an enthusiastic and capable team, especially in these difficult times.”
If you think you may benefit from this service or have any queries, please contact the orthoptic department on 01656 752170, and the team will be happy to help.
