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Guide to Gaining Approval for a Clinical Study

This article focuses on gaining approval for clinical research involving NHS patients, although the principles can be applied to other types of research. The intention is to give an overview of the requirements for setting up a research study, but...

Ophthalmology in a War Zone: an interview with Dr Volodymyr Melnyk

It is now nine months since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine commenced in late February 2022, with Putin announcing a “special military operation” to “denazify and demilitarise” Ukraine. The rest of the world, however, saw it for what it...

More sensitive visual acuity test for age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world. Primarily associated with ageing, genetic factors and lifestyle choices such as smoking also play a contributory role. Patients with early AMD, characterised by the development of...

How effective is nurse-led telephone preassessment for cataract surgery?

Cataract surgery is the most frequently performed surgical procedure in the UK [1]. The demand for cataract surgery is projected to increase with ageing population, and the recent pandemic has further contributed to the extended waiting times in the UK....

100 years of insulin

*Joint first authors The centenary of the discovery of insulin is a time to celebrate one of the most significant scientific discoveries of the 20th century. Background Before 1923, Type 1 diabetes mellitus [T1DM] resulted in death from severe ketoacidosis...

Corneal transplantation in the United Kingdom: are we blind to the challenges that still exist after the Organ Donation Bill?

Corneal transplantation (CT) is a significant treatment option for a huge number of patients in the United Kingdom (UK) [1]. For an individual, CT results in a substantial improvement in quality of life. Penetrating keratoplasty with full thickness grafting has...

Situation analysis of diabetic retinopathy services in eleven countries

A five-year project funded by The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust is facilitating development of diabetic retinopathy services (DRS) to reduce unnecessary blindness in 10 Commonwealth countries through the establishment of a capacity-building network, the DR-NET part of the Commonwealth...

Bridging the gap – Supporting our patients across the primary / secondary care divide

Providing the best care for patients is surely a fundamental goal for all healthcare professionals. When waiting-times are long and getting longer, clinics are full, colleagues are off with stress-related illness and patients are complaining, is it possible to still...

My top five Apps for UK-based general ophthalmologists

The way we interact in society is changing as more of us are becoming ‘digital natives’: individuals who are in close contact to the internet and expect to integrate smart devices with our daily lives. This was stereotypically a term...