| May 2026 |
| We have been informed that a number of patients have been sent to Lancashire Teaching Hospital (LTHTR) at Chorley without prior notification of their arrival. The emergency eye clinic (as is the case for Community Urgent Eyecare Service (CUES)) is not a walk in service so all patients require a referral and will be given an appointment. Please do not signpost patients to walk in to the emergency eye clinic without arranging an appointment first. The correct procedure for referring patients to the emergency eye clinic at LTHTR is to send a referral and / or telephone the triage line. This can be done at the end of an episode of care (sight test, CUES etc.) by selecting ‘LANCASHIRE EYE CENTRE – CHORLEY AND SOUTH RIBBLE HOSPITAL CALL 01257245346‘. It can also be done using an NHS.net email account to email a referral to eye.emergencies@lthtr.nhs.uk. While this does not remove the requirement to find a patient an appointment at another CUES practice, it can be used as a back up should no appointment be available within an appropriate time and the emergency eye clinic is used as an option of last resort. Sending patients to A&E or the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) is rarely useful, unless the patient presents with symptoms suggestive of a stroke or other emergency general health concern. Patients sent to A&E or UTC will usually end up referred back to the emergency eye clinic which can delay treatment and inconvenience patients. Please do get in touch if you have any questions regarding this. Thank you for your hard work and support. Timothy Bagot – timothy.bagot@primaryeyecare.co.uk Edward Ovenden – edward.ovenden@primaryeyecare.co.uk Clinical Leads Kind regards, Primary Eyecare Services |
