Historic agreement. ACO CEO Maureen O'Keefe and RVEEH CEO Ann Clark sign affiliation agreement

Historical Significance: The Australian College of Optometry and the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital signed an historic affiliation agreement on 16 December 2013. The goals of the agreement are (a) to improve outcomes for patients with complex eye care needs, (b) to promote a co-operative effort between members of staff of the ACO and members of staff of RVEEH to develop and deliver responsive and high quality pathways of care for patients, and c) to explore opportunities to provide teaching for undergraduate and postgraduate students. The relationship between optometry and ophthalmology was less than cordial for more than a 100 years, but in the first decade of the 21st century relations became guided more by best outcomes for patients and best use of the public health dollar. The agreement built on working relationships that had developed between the Australian College of Optometry and the hospital from 2011. In 2011 the College and the hospital trialled a triage system in the College's clinic for patients referred to the hospital by GPs where the basis for the referral was not urgent and vaguely supported. The purpose was to relieve the hospital of the workload of patients whose vision problems can be resolved at the primary care level. The trial was successful - only 25% of the patients seen needed referral to the hospital. The balance was treated in the College clinic. This pilot project has lead a continuation of the triage service in the College on a regular basis. In addition, the College now provides contact lens services to the hospital. The hospital has also produced new referral guidelines that lists the common eye conditions that should be treated at the primary care level and encourages GPs to refer to optometrists rather than the hospital for these conditions. The guidelines also require an optometrist's report for some classes of referral. See http://www.eyeandear.org.au/page/Health_Professionals/Referring _to_the_Eye_and_Ear/