Community Glaucoma Services

About the North East Essex Community Glaucoma Service

The North East Essex Community Glaucoma Service was established around 2019–2020, working with a number of local optometry practices to provide community glaucoma services closer to patients’ homes. Enhanced Optometry Services (EOS) provides this monitoring at its clinic at Portland Medical Practice in Colchester.

The service is commissioned by East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT). Its aim is to improve access to routine glaucoma monitoring, help reduce hospital waiting times and provide suitable patients with ongoing care in a convenient community setting.

The service is intended for selected patients with stable glaucoma, ocular hypertension, suspected glaucoma and primary angle closure, where community-based monitoring is considered appropriate.

How the Service Works

The Community Glaucoma Service operates through a system of virtual clinics. Patients attend an allocated community optometry practice, where clinical assessments and investigations are carried out. These may include:

• Visual field testing
• Intraocular pressure measurements
• Assessment of the optic nerve and optic disc
• Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) imaging

The results and clinical information are then reviewed by the hospital glaucoma team, allowing decisions about ongoing monitoring and management to be made within the hospital-led pathway.

What Happens After Your Appointment?

Following review of the clinical findings, the hospital glaucoma team will determine the appropriate next step.

Depending on the results, patients may:

• Remain in the community pathway, with a further review arranged at an appropriate interval.
• Be referred back to the hospital eye clinic pathway if their condition requires closer assessment, is worsening or is considered unstable.

This approach allows suitable patients to receive routine monitoring closer to home while maintaining oversight from their hospital glaucoma team.

The EOS Community Glaucoma Clinic in Colchester

Enhanced Optometry Services (EOS) is one of the providers participating in the North East Essex Community Glaucoma Service.

EOS operates its community glaucoma clinic at Portland Medical Practice, Ypres Road, Colchester, CO2 7UW.

Patients are assessed by the hospital glaucoma team and, where suitable for community-based monitoring, allocated to a participating provider. Patients allocated to EOS are offered an appointment at our Portland clinic.

At the clinic, our role is to carry out the required examinations and investigations and make the clinical findings available for review by the hospital glaucoma team. The hospital team oversees the patient’s ongoing care and determines the appropriate follow-up pathway.

EOS operates the Portland clinic only. Other locations within the wider North East Essex Community Glaucoma Service are provided by separate organisations.

Who Is the Service For?

The North East Essex Community Glaucoma Service is intended for patients who have been assessed by their hospital eye clinic glaucoma team and considered suitable for routine monitoring in a community setting.

This may include patients with:

• Stable glaucoma
• Ocular hypertension (raised eye pressure)
• Suspected glaucoma
• Primary angle closure

Not every patient with these conditions will be suitable for community monitoring. The decision is made by the hospital glaucoma team based on the patient’s individual clinical circumstances.

How Do I Get an Appointment?

Patients cannot self-refer to the EOS community glaucoma clinic.

The hospital eye clinic glaucoma team identifies patients who are suitable for community monitoring and allocates them to an appropriate provider. If you are allocated to the EOS clinic at Portland Medical Practice, we will contact you or send you an appointment letter with the details of your appointment.

There is no need to contact EOS to request an initial appointment.

What to Expect at Your Appointment

Your appointment at the EOS community glaucoma clinic will involve a review of your eye health and a series of tests to help monitor your glaucoma or eye pressure.

Depending on your individual requirements, these may include:

• Visual field testing – assesses your peripheral vision and checks for changes that may be associated with glaucoma.
• Intraocular pressure measurement – measures the pressure inside your eyes.
• Optic nerve assessment – examines the appearance of the optic nerve at the back of your eye.
• OCT scanning – produces detailed images of the structures at the back of your eye, helping to identify and monitor changes over time.

The tests are generally straightforward and non-invasive. Your appointment may take some time because several different investigations may be required.

What Should I Bring?

Please bring the following with you:

• Your appointment letter.
• Your current spectacles.
• A list of any eye drops and other medications you are currently using.

Please arrive in good time for your appointment.

Your Ongoing Care

Although your glaucoma monitoring may take place at a community clinic, you remain under the care of your hospital eye clinic glaucoma team.

The results of your community appointment are reviewed by the hospital glaucoma team, who determine the appropriate follow-up arrangements.

If your condition remains suitable for community monitoring, a further appointment will be arranged at the appropriate interval.

If your results indicate that your condition is changing, worsening or requires closer assessment, you may be referred back to the hospital eye clinic for further investigation or treatment.

Your community glaucoma appointments do not replace any other hospital eye clinic care. Please continue to attend all hospital appointments arranged for you, including appointments with other ophthalmology specialists, and follow the advice given by your hospital eye care team.

If you have further questions, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page

General Eye Care

The EOS community glaucoma clinic is specifically for glaucoma and ocular hypertension monitoring. It does not replace your routine sight test or general eye care.

Please continue to see your own optometrist for routine eye examinations, spectacle prescriptions and other general eye-care needs.