Table 1 Summary of key outcomes and standards used in the audit.
From: Referrals from community optometrists to the hospital eye service in Scotland and England
Audit outcome | Standard | |
|---|---|---|
1 | Is the referral to an appropriate professional? (a) from the referrer’s perspective (b) from an overall perspective | C.Optom guideline C152: [21] referrals should be ‘to a practitioner with the appropriate knowledge & skills’ |
2 | Is the referral necessary? | C.Optom guideline C143: [21] refer ‘a sign or symptom of injury or disease which you cannot manage’ |
3 | Is the referral accurate? | GOC rules (1999): [39] referral should be written report ‘indicating grounds for thinking the person may be suffering from injury or disease of the eye’ |
4 | What proportion of optometric referrals receive a reply? (referral reply rate; RRR) | Joint statement: [17] ‘ophthalmologists should send copies of GP letters to the referring optometrist’ Memorandum from Scottish Government: [18] ‘meaningful feedback will be provided to optometrists, copied to the patient’s GP, if a patient is seen by the ophthalmology department’ |
5 | Of optometric referrals that result in a letter to the GP and/or optometrist, for what proportion does the patient receive a copy? | Caldicott review: [20] ‘all communications between different health and social care teams should be copied to the patient’ |
