Standards
Ophthalmic Safety Alert – intracameral cefuroxime
There are a range of cefuroxime preparations currently in use for the prevention of endophthalmitis in intraocular surgery. There are two licensed versions, Aprokam (Thea Pharmaceuticals) and Ximaract (from Bausch & Lomb), both available as a 50mg powder and diluent solution for injection. Also used are unlicensed prefilled syringes, of which some are compliant with
Ophthalmic Safety Alert – detachment of cannulas during ophthalmic surgery
The NHS Improvement national patient safety team have informed the College of the continued trend of incidents involving issues with detachment of cannulas during ophthalmic surgery (cannula-associated ocular injury, COI). The cannula is usually attached to either a saline or a viscoelastic syringe. The combination of a small lumen and plunger pressure can result in
RCOphth Safety Announcement: BSS and Open Systems for Injectable Medicines
Following reported errors of drug misidentification in other specialties causing serious harm, when an injectable medication was decanted into an ‘open system’, eg a gallipot, before administration, NHS Improvement has expressed concerns to RCOphth about the widespread practice during cataract surgery of decanting BSS (balanced salt solution) from the infusion bag into a gallipot at
66% of Clinical Leads surveyed by the RCOphth confirm cataract rationing is restricting access to surgery
Cataract surgery: current limitations to patients accessing treatment Cataract surgery is the most common operation performed, with approximately 400,000 performed per year in the UK and has enormous benefit for patients and their quality of life. It is crucial that patients who will benefit from cataract surgery are able to access it, whether for their
NEW Refractive Surgery Standards and patient information improve quality of care and help patients make informed choices
Surgery to correct refractive errors, using lasers or implants, to provide freedom from glasses or contact lenses is increasingly popular. Over 100,000 refractive surgery procedures (laser vision correction surgery) are undertaken every year in the UK and implant based alternatives are now widely available. Results are generally very good, but concerns have been raised by