NHS Wales University Eye Care Centre picks up an award for its collaborative work

The team picked up an award for their innovative work at the HSJ Digital Awards 2023 in Manchester in the Digital Literacy, Education and Upskilling category for their fantastic collaborative work in helping reduce sight loss.

“The judges felt that this entry documents a remarkable journey towards impressive achievements. The commitment to expansion coupled with strong emphasis on training and development has enhanced patient outcomes and ignited hopes for the future, with the satisfaction of patients serving as a resounding testament to the positive impacts achieved.”

The NHS Wales University Eye Care Centre opened at the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences in 2021 with the aim of reducing hospital waiting times for patients requiring eye care.

Set up in partnership with Cardiff University the project has provided training for tens of optometrists to attain the College of Optometrists Higher Certificate in Glaucoma and Medical Retina, thus enabling them to manage more patients closer to their home rather than in hospital.

The initiative, has also been praised by Health Minister, Eluned Morgan who welcomed progress on new eye care facilities which will increase the number of patients receiving eye care treatment and cut waiting times.

Gareth Bulpin, National Architect Eye Care Digitation at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, said: “Accepting this prestigious award was testimony to our collaborative team, as stated by the judges ‘a remarkable journey towards impressive achievements,’ we delivered.”

The team also scooped the Enhanced Optical Service Award at the Optician Awards 2022 for offering excellent enhanced services and primary care in the community. 

Gareth Bulpin, the national architect for eye care digitisation at NHS Wales, said the Cardiff and Vale UHB team was ‘overjoyed’ to win the ‘prestigious’ award. “I believe it is the first NHS organisation to have received such an attainment and industry recognition for our work, which is amazing,” he said.