Community Minor and Urgent Eye Care Case Studies

Hertfordshire LOC: Demonstrating Clinical Need for a Minor and Urgent Eye Care Service in Optometry Through Dual-Audit Evidence. Published in May 2025.

Acute red eye and similar minor and urgent ocular presentations are not eligible for GOS, do not require a refraction or sight test and must be managed through alternative pathways.

Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) remains one of the few areas in England without a commissioned Minor Eye Conditions Service (MECS) or COVID-19 Urgent Eyecare Service (CUES) to manage these conditions.

Read the case study here. 

Learnings from Hertfordshire LOC: Using Local Audits to Show the Need for Urgent Eyecare Services. Published in May 2025.

This case study is to support LOCs who are interested in collecting local evidence to support service development and engagement with commissioners.

Staffordshire Enhanced Services: A Platform for Eye Care Transformation. Published in May 2025.

This case study looks at enhanced services in Staffordshire.

Optometry First – Isle of Wight. Published in November 2023.

This case study looks at Optometry First, a comprehensive care model which promotes utilising primary care optometry in the delivery of first contact care to resolution, and continuity of care for people with long-term eye condition, working in partnership with the hospital eye service.

Map Reveals Distribution of LOCSU Core Pathways in England. Published in December 2022.

The core LOSCU pathways focus on access to urgent eye care (MECS & CUES), end to end cataract care and glaucoma referral filtering and could be considered as the ‘foundation’ pathways on which to build a more comprehensive service.

Read the case study here. 

Improving IP Optometrist Access to FP10. Published in August 2022.

This case study reviews access of FP10s for optometrists with an independent prescribing qualification working within a locally commissioned urgent eye care service.

Referral Feedback Within CUES in Manchester. Published in March 2022.

This case study considers the additional benefit that referral feedback brings to the CUES service in Manchester.

Introduction of Electronic Triage in a Minor Eye Conditions Service in Devon. Published in April 2021.

There was high demand for a new Minor Eye Conditions Service in Devon, however a time-consuming paper-based triage system limited options for sharing patient data electronically.

This case study looks at the introduction of an electronic triage.

COVID-19 Urgent Eyecare Service (CUES) established in Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire in record time. Published in January 2021.

Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group commissioned the COVID-19 Urgent Eyecare Service (CUES) with the aim to provide urgent eye care in the community and reduce the number of patient presentations within the hospital eye service.

Read the case study here.