We recently wrote to you regarding the upcoming changes being implemented across Humber and North Yorkshire (HNY) when referring a patient to secondary care for Cataracts and other Ophthalmology referrals. The ICB has introduced a Single Point of Access (SPOA) which will expand the existing Patient Choice Office, currently operational in York and North Yorkshire, across HNY. Along with this, the ICB developed a new HNY clinical commissioning policy for Cataracts – this policy can be found on our website here: Cataract Policy.​

The SPOA will receive all referrals in a digital format and ask the patient an associated set of questions related to their Cataract which will then determine the most appropriate set of providers to care for the patient. The team will then have an informed Choice conversation with the patient to refer them to their provider of choice.​

To enable the changes, we require Optometrists and their administrators (if referring on behalf of clinicians) in York, Scarborough and Ryedale to sign up to access the digital system by the 30th of June. There is a staged process which will provide you with a unique login using two factor authentication via your phone (an alternative to using an NHS Smartcard). Once signed up, you will be able to login using just your phone like signing in to a banking app or government portal. To start the process, please can you complete this questionnaire (Link) which will ask for your details. Once received, you will be contacted via email to share ID documents with the central NHS team followed by a short call with the IT provider to complete the sign up.​

Thank you to those who have already submitted your information. For clarity and to ensure we have captured all responses, we are resending this communication.​

The implementation of the digital system (Gateway) will follow a phased approach. Each area within Humber and North Yorkshire will be onboarded from a different date which we will communicate shortly, we are starting with practices in York, Scarborough and Ryedale. We are asking all practices to have at least 2 people signed up by the 30th of June at which point the £12 fee for completing the Direct Cataract Referral form as part of the Direct Cataract Referral Scheme will cease. For any colleagues not signed up at this point or new starters, we will continue to support sign-ups after this date.​

FAQs regarding the SPOA and digital system can be found here and will be updated on an ongoing basis: pending​

For any questions or queries please contact the RSS Team at hnyicb-voy.rsservice@nhs.net (Patient Choice Office)

Gateway demo
Gateway registration link once CareID process has been completed​

---