Quality standard for people with sight loss and dementia in an ophthalmology department
21 January 2016
This Quality standard for people with sight loss and dementia in an ophthalmology department has been developed by The Royal College of Ophthalmologists and VISION 2020 UK to help ophthalmology departments provide high quality care for patients with dementia.
Patients with dementia can benefit from being identified in advance of attending their appointment in order for eye clinic staff to be aware of and identify ways to best support the needs of these patients. The quality standard identifies simple and easy steps that can be taken to enable services to be designed and adapted to meet the needs of people with dementia.
It addresses staff training, support to participate in decisions about care, the design of clinical areas, waiting times and appointment durations, provision of information, assessment of vision and referral for support. The breadth of what should be considered in providing care to patients with dementia in an eye clinic requires liaison between all staff, managers, and commissioners of care within the care pathway.
Seven quality statements have been designed based on the NICE format for quality standards to help ophthalmology departments assess their services.