EYE CARE NAVIGATION SERVICE TO LAUNCH ACROSS
LANCASHIRE AND SOUTH CUMBRIA
Eyecare Navigation Clinical Triage Service
Across Lancashire & South Cumbria, there are varied and complex pathways in place in relations how ophthalmology referrals are managed.
A new Eyecare Navigation Clinical Triage Service, providing a single point of access for all routine and urgent Ophthalmology referrals, is being launched across Lancashire and South Cumbria in June 2026. This will support the streamlining of referrals and ensure that patients are directed to the correct provider, first time. This will support the direction of travel of hospital to community and also support an enhanced patient experience.
This service will be provided by Primary Eyecare Services and will be launched by locality in two phases.
The new service will:
· Clinically triage referrals against agreed policies
· Route referrals to the correct ophthalmology sub-specialty clinic first time
· Redirect suitable patients to community eyecare services
· Support consistent, impartial patient choice in line with legislation
· Enable timely access to appropriate care
· Improve patient experience and referral quality
Who does it apply to?
· All GP and community optometry referrals into ophthalmology, including WetAMD referrals
· Excludes emergency and 2WW referrals (the pathway for these referrals remains unchanged)
Key dates/Next steps
· Thursday 21st May 2026 (7-8pm) – launch event on MS Teams – invites to follow for all providers and referrers
· Monday 1st June 2026 – Phase 1 launch across Fylde Coast and South Cumbria
· Monday 29th June 2026 – Phase 2 launch across Central & West Lancashire and Pennine Lancashire
We will be reaching out to all providers (NHS & IS) within Phase 1 across the next 2 weeks to arrange individual meetings
Kind regards,
Planned Care Team
NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board
