50: Diabetic retinopathy – Dots and blots of significance
Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness among working age people worldwide. But thanks to the Diabetic Eye Screening Programme and an improved understanding of the impact of glycaemic control on diabetic retinopathy, there has been a significant reduction in the level of sight-loss in England and Wales. By catching the early signs of disease, eye care practitioners play a vital role in preventing the worst outcomes, such as proliferative retinopathy and diabetic macular oedema. Can this positive trend continue?
In this episode, Michelle Hanratty speaks to Dr Rosalind (Rosie) Creer, a Lead Optometrist for Diabetes at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital. Rosie emphasised how blood sugar control is directly linked to retinopathy progression, how to differentiate between different types of lesions and why the recent changes that have been made to eye screening programmes could affect optometrists.
Rosie also presented Docet’s recent webinar, called, “Joining the Dots (and Blots) of Diabetic Retinopathy” and answers some of the questions that optometrists left during that session.
Find more information on the Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (and grading criteria) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on the nations’ public health websites.
This is our 50th episode of Sound Optometry and we’ve had more than one hundred thousand listens over the last five years. Thank you so much for continuing to support our podcast. Don’t forget that if you have a topic in mind that you’d like us to cover, or if you’ve got an interesting case study you’d like to share, send Docet a message on LinkedIn.
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28:20
49: Enhanced Optometric Services – Here, there and nearly everywhere
Since COVID-19, a greater number of enhanced optometric services have been rolled out across much of the UK. These pathways have been proven to reduce the burden on secondary care, reduce patient waiting times and have saved the NHS millions of pounds. As a result, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) have commissioned optometric services far beyond CUES, MECS and pre- and post- operative cataracts. For example, in some areas, optometrists are now providing paediatric and glaucoma services in the community. What impact are these enhanced pathways having?
In this episode, Michelle Hanratty speaks to Dharmesh Patel, the CEO of Primary Eyecare Services – the largest provider of enhanced optometric care in England. Plus, Michelle asks Hayley Moore, an optometrist in Essex, about her experience of delivering enhanced paediatric and glaucoma services. Dharmesh and Hayley also provide their top tips for optometrists who want to upskill and get involved.
If you have a topic in mind that you’d like us to cover, or if you’ve got an interesting case study you’d like to share, send Docet a message on LinkedIn.
GOC-registered optometrists practising in England, Wales or Northern Ireland can gain 1 CPD point by listening to this podcast and completing the exercise on our website. This episode covers the GOC domain of Professionalism. Docet - dedicated to providing quality optometric education and professional development.
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48: PACS – Management of primary angle closure suspects
Primary angle closure disease is more common in the UK than was initially thought and it is important for optometrists to understand the condition’s stages of progression; from primary angle closure suspect (PACS), to primary angle closure (PAC) and primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG). PACG is the stage we want to avoid, where structural damage to the optic nerve and loss of visual function have occurred because of the occluded drainage angle. PACG is far more visually destructive than primary open angle glaucoma, but if we detect the signs of primary angle closure disease early, preventative measures can be implemented, such as laser peripheral iridotomy or clear lens extraction.
In this episode, Michelle Hanratty speaks to Nishani Amerasinghe, a consultant ophthalmic surgeon in the south of England, who presented Docet’s recent webinar, called “PAC, PACS, and PACS+ in Focus: A guide for optometrists”.
If you have a topic in mind that you’d like us to cover, or if you’ve got an interesting case study you’d like to share, send Docet a message on LinkedIn.
GOC-registered optometrists practising in England, Wales or Northern Ireland can gain 1 CPD point by listening to this podcast and completing the exercise on our website. This episode covers the GOC domains of Communication and Clinical Practice. Docet - dedicated to providing quality optometric education and professional development.
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47: Chronic Stress – The brain-body connection
Stress and burnout, which we explored in the last episode of Sound Optometry, is far from uncommon in optometrists. In this episode, Michelle Hanratty uncovers the severe implications that chronic stress can have on the health of optometrists in the future. How can we reverse its damage?
Michelle is joined by Professor Anna Whittaker, a health psychologist at the University of Stirling, who highlights the role of cortisol in stress responses and its long-term effects on mood, weight, sleep and the immune system. Professor Vanja Duric, a neuroscientist at Des Moines University in Iowa, also elaborates on how chronic stress can affect the brain in an unexpected number of ways.
Listen to our previous episode on how to address the root causes of stress in the workplace (episode 46).
If you have a topic in mind that you’d like us to cover, or if you’ve got an interesting case study you’d like to share, send Docet a message on LinkedIn.
GOC-registered optometrists practising in England, Wales or Northern Ireland can gain 1 CPD point by listening to this podcast and completing the exercise on our website. This episode covers the GOC domains of Professionalism, and Leadership and Accountability. Docet - dedicated to providing quality optometric education and professional development.
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46: Burnout in Optometry – Causes, challenges & solutions
A study conducted in Australia found that around half of optometrists experience burnout. One in every three optometrists also live with a mental health condition. We all know what workplace stress can feel like, but few of us can probably spot the signs of long-term stress turning into burnout. That can lead to even more serious mental health challenges and can affect how we care for our patients.
In this episode, Michelle Hanratty is joined by Neil Retallic, an optometrist and researcher in mental welfare at the University of Bradford, who is currently conducting a large survey of optometrists in the UK and Ireland. Neil explains why stress and burnout are more common in our profession than in the general population. Michelle then asks Dr Nicholas Taylor, a consultant psychiatrist, how to intervene before longer-term problems arise. Can we address root causes of stress in the workplace?
Next month, Michelle will examine the physiological effect that long-term stress can have on optometrists.
Listen to our previous episodes on patient mental health (episode 26) and how to improve optometrists’ general wellbeing at work (episode 24).
If you have a topic in mind that you’d like us to cover, or if you’ve got an interesting case study you’d like to share, send Docet a message on LinkedIn.
GOC-registered optometrists practising in England, Wales or Northern Ireland can gain 1 CPD point by listening to this podcast and completing the exercise on our website. This episode covers the GOC domains of Professionalism, and Leadership & Accountability. Docet - dedicated to providing quality optometric education and professional development.
Sound Optometry is the podcast from Docet that provides high quality continuing professional development (CPD) for fully-qualified UK-GOC-registered optometrists practising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each month, we’ll be exploring the topics that matter most to us optometrists with case studies and in-depth conversations.
You can gain 1 CPD point by listening to this podcast and completing the exercise on docet.info.
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