A new eye clinic is set to open in South Woodham Ferrers this August to help speed up patient appointments and spot eye issues sooner.
The clinic aims to quicken the diagnosis and treatment of eye conditions such as glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.
The facility builds on the success of the Ophthalmology Diagnostic Hub that opened at Orsett Hospital in March.
More than 2,000 patients have benefited since the hub's opening, with a number receiving treatment or being closely monitored to prevent sight loss.
Appointments are already being made at the new clinic situated at the Tyler’s Ride site.
Essential for swiftly diagnosing glaucoma and retina conditions, the clinic can reduce sight loss by lessening the waiting time for patients to be seen, according to Dr Aman Chandra, consultant ophthalmologist at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.
Dr Chandra said: "The opening of a further diagnostic hub will really speed up things for patients and help us get through our patient waiting list more quickly.
“These clinics are set up specially to diagnose people with Glaucoma and retina conditions, ensuring we reduce sight loss by reducing the waiting time to be seen."
The Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust introduced these clinics to see more patients and enhance their experience.
If any concerns about patients' eye conditions arise, these are fed back to the reviewing doctors, who then contact the patients via letter or phone to keep them informed of the findings and any changes to treatment.
Dr Chandra adds: "The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive so far at Orsett, with patients preferring the shorter waiting times compared to the traditional clinics.
"Other eye hospitals, including Moorfields Eye Hospital, have been using similar clinics to reduce waiting times and prevent blindness and this has proved successful."
Linda Bines a patient from Basildon said: "I attended the Orsett Diagnostic Hub- and was made to feel so welcome and cared for by the staff (from arrival to departure).
"They were efficient and caring.
"They spoke to me like I was a real person and not a number and I would recommend any patient coming for diagnostics to come here.”
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