News

The number of eye-care practitioners who have registered with Centre for Eye Health (CFEH) is exceeding expectations, and continues to grow, six months after its official opening. In addition, optometrists are already singing the praises of the Centre and how it is helping them to build their practice.

To date, more than 450 optometrists and ophthalmologists have registered with CFEH and over 350 patients have been referred for specialised eye imaging and visual assessment. Two-thirds of CFEH-registered practitioners are Sydney-based while one-third is from regional NSW and the ACT.

The Centre provides state-of-the-art eye imaging and diagnostic services to the community, at no charge. Its mission is to help reduce the incidence of blindness through early detection of eye diseases such as macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. The Centre sees itself as adding value to eye healthcare services within NSW and the ACT.

Optometrist Kyriacos Mavrolefteros registered soon after CFEH opened, and has referred 12 patients to the Centre since December last year. He  describes CFEH as "a most valuable tertiary referral resource that enables our practice to more confidently take care of our patients' ocular health. "Through CFEH, we now also have access to equipment we cannot afford," he notes.

Mavrolefteros has run an optometry practice in Maroubra, in Sydney's eastern suburbs for 16 years. He has found CFEH especially useful for evaluating suspected cases of glaucoma.

"We've requested CFEH to perform a glaucoma workup, including OCT, HRT and GDx, for patients with a family history of glaucoma, perhaps slightly suspect discs, no ophthalmoscopically visible RNFL defects, below average (corrected for corneal thickness) pressures and normal fields," he says. "Being able to refer patients for these services adds to our confidence in taking care of their ocular health."

Mavrolefteros has also made referrals to CFEH for patient baseline monitoring, such as those presenting with early macular retinal changes. "When a referral to a retinal specialist is required, it means that we can also supply OCT baselines such macular or retinal structures sourced from CFEH," he says. Mavrolefteros says he plans to keep referring patients to CFEH to optimise patient care, while saving them money and time.

Located at the Kensington campus of the University of New South Wales (UNSW), CFEH is a joint initiative of Guide Dogs NSW/ACT and UNSW.