CHEC has announced that its centre in Stoke has been awarded an “Outstanding” rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A classification of “Outstanding” is the highest rating given out by the CQC, and reflects the exceptional performance of the Stoke hub across five main areas: safety, effectiveness, care, responsiveness, and leadership. Based in the heart of Stoke, the centre provides accessible eyecare for local people, supporting the ophthalmology services delivered by the NHS. With 7.2 million people across the UK currently on NHS waiting lists awaiting consultant-led elective care, community eyecare providers such as CHEC act as a much-needed reinforcement to ensure that Britain continues to receive high-quality, efficient healthcare. Jose Bailey, Commercial Director at CHEC, said: “We are delighted to announce this “Outstanding” rating for CHEC Stoke. The recognition is welcomed as a strong testament to the consistent, high-quality, and safe delivery of CHEC’s services as we continue to support our more comprehensive NHS partners in the patient-centred provision of treatment. When NHS waiting lists continue to climb, community-based treatment epitomises the importance of alternative patient choice and ongoing healthcare across the UK. “Our phenomenal teams strive to achieve Outstanding status across all CHEC treatment centres by continuing to place patients at the heart of our ethos in the delivery of first-class healthcare, earning us this distinguished classification.” The Stoke centre is one of an ever-growing number of CHEC community healthcare centres across the UK. Last year, CHEC expanded its provisions into the area of endoscopy, and for the coming months, the focus will lie on growing this service while maintaining the quality of safety, effectiveness, care, responsiveness, and leadership. CHEC has announced the launch of its honorary elite Doctors Club. The Club is open to sessional outpatient doctors and surgeons dedicated to working with CHEC. Qualifying terms include surgeons who have performed 1000+ cataract surgeries for CHEC within a year and outpatient doctors who have worked in more than 48 clinics for CHEC per year (minimum one per week). The Doctors Club provides a way for CHEC to reward sessional outpatient doctors and surgeons who are committed to regularly working with CHEC. This innovative reward scheme comes as CHEC is awarded a certification of Great Place to Work by a global authority on workplace culture. Mahmoud Rabie, Clinical Director of Ophthalmology, commented, “We are delighted to announce a reward scheme for dedicated sessional outpatient doctors and surgeons who work with CHEC. It is our pleasure to reward our elite Doctors and surgeons and we hope these benefits not only reflect our appreciation for their work but showcase CHEC’s increasing stature as a leader in the community health sector.” Upon joining the reward scheme, doctors and surgeons will receive benefits such as a Doctor Referral Scheme and a Blue Light discount card. Furthermore, members will have priority to clinic availability and the opportunity to conduct private patient work and attend CHEC-hosted events and conferences. They will also be invited to CHEC’s quarterly regional “supper clubs” and annual Spring Raffle. A link to join the club can be found here. CHEC has announced that it will now be offering private cataract surgery in Wales at its Bridgend treatment centre. CHEC’s Bridgend facility opened in 2019 and has been serving the local community ever since to tackle the increasing number of patients requiring treatment for eye conditions such as cataracts. CHEC’s private offering in Wales will initially focus on providing cataract surgery to patients as well as other ophthalmology services, including consultations, diagnostic tests, and post-operative reviews. The facility will provide patients with an alternative high-quality, affordable and efficient service for patients that feel they can no longer wait for NHS-funded treatment, with a competitive private treatment fee which includes all necessary treatment on the day of surgery, inclusive of monofocal lens replacement, medication and surgeon’s fees. Jon Dore, COO, commented, “We are pleased to announce that we have started to offer private cataract treatment in Wales in order to support patients in the region with excellent patient care and high-quality treatment and aftercare. “We look forward to continuing to expand our range of services in Wales and working in partnership with optometrists to meet the growing demand for cataract surgery by providing a more affordable and accessible service in the local community.” The site is conveniently located by the M4 for easy access for residents across south Wales. In 2022, CHEC opened six new centres across the UK, expanded its services into endoscopy, and launched its innovative patient app, which has been shortlisted for the Tomorrow’s Care Awards 2023. CHEC’s private offering in Wales is further evidence of the growing demand for CHEC’s excellent work. CHEC has announced that it will be returning for this year’s 100% Optical on stand B330. The event will be in its ninth year and is the fastest growing optical event in Europe and largest in the UK. It will take place from 25th-27th February at London’s ExCel conference centre with over 9680 optical professionals anticipated to attend. Following the success of last year, with CHEC winning ‘Most Engaging Stand’ at the event, CHEC will aim to retain the award with an innovative interactive IOL cataract dry lab, allowing attendees to participate in CHEC’s on-stand competition, performing cataract surgery on a synthetic eye. Judged by Clinical Director of Ophthalmology Mahmoud Rabie, the winning ‘surgeon’ will be awarded a Series 8 Apple Watch. CHEC’s new stand will be twice the size of their last stand, and will give attendees the opportunity to meet CHEC’s friendly engagement team and senior leadership team. The social nature of the stand encourages people to network over free cups of coffee, tea, and other hot drinks. At the stand, attendees will also be able to discuss CHECs shared care partnership programme, referral pathways and find out more about CHEC’s exciting plans for 2023. Jon Dore, COO, said, “After the success at last year’s 100% Optical event, we are excited to be back this year. “It was a privilege to win ‘Most Engaging Stand’ in our first year, and we welcome guests to visit our new stand at B330 and learn about the solutions CHEC has to offer and participate in our fun, educational competition. We’re also thrilled to host a CPD seminar at the event again, and exhibit the excellent work that CHEC is contributing to improve community healthcare across the country.” To register for a free place at 100% Optical, please find a link here. To book a space at Mr Rabie’s CPD seminar, please find a link here. To book a time slot at CHEC’s dry lab competition, please find a link here. CHEC has announced the opening of a new treatment centre in Worcester, which will provide ophthalmology and endoscopy services for patients. Waiting lists for both ophthalmology and endoscopy services have come under immense strain, with ophthalmic procedures accounting for approximately 10% of desired treatments in 2022. With NHS waiting lists once again hitting a record high and expected to continue rising until 2024, the opening of new centres is fundamental to increasing the availability of high-quality healthcare services for patients. Jon Dore, COO, commented, “It is exciting to be able to announce our plans for 2023. The opening of our new centre in Worcester will further expand our high-quality services across England and help make healthcare more accessible for patients.” This new site is conveniently situated for patients and will improve accessibility to healthcare services for local residents. In 2022, CHEC opened five new treatment centres across England, as well as launching its community services in Dorset. With the Worcester site due to open in March, it marks the first in a series of planned launches for CHEC in 2023. CHEC Nottingham is celebrating one year since the Treatment Centre opened! In the last 12 months, CHEC Nottingham has treated an amazing 8,147 patients, providing a wide range of ophthalmic services, and more recently endoscopy. We are so proud of our hard-working staff for making the first year a success. The Nottingham Team had a fantastic time celebrating with our wonderful patients and are excited to see what the next 12 months will bring! Well done to Julie Langham and her team at CHEC Nottingham, keep up the great work! As 2022 comes to a close, we are celebrating a record year of growth, coupled with expanding services and multiple industry awards wins! This year, CHEC opened 6 sites across the country, spanning from Newcastle and Northampton to Basingstoke and Dorset. Each of our clinics is uniquely placed to help tackle NHS backlogs, which increased significantly during the pandemic. Indeed, NHS England data has revealed that the number of people in England on a waiting list to start routine treatment, such as cataract surgery, is continuing to rise, highlighting the real need for our services.[1] Intending to support the NHS further, we also expanded our offerings beyond ophthalmology, to include endoscopy. We opened our first Diagnostic Endoscopy suite in Nottingham in April this year. The expansion of services cements our role as a key contributor in supporting the NHS as a provider of quality care in the community. Following the expansion of clinics, our position in the eye care industry has gone from strength to strength. In April, we launched a partnership with the Royal National Institute for Blind People to provide a dedicated ECLO support worker across all sites. This year, CHEC also attended 100% Optical, the largest ophthalmology event in the UK, as the entrance sponsor. This was an amazing opportunity for us to discuss community ophthalmology with our Optometry colleagues. We were announced as the winner of ‘Most Engaging Stand’ due to its innovation and creativity – we provided the opportunity to conduct cataract surgery on a synthetic eye in a dry lab environment! Plans for CHEC’s stand at 100% Optical 2023 are already in motion as we hope to retain the award. We have also delivered many benefits for colleagues as part of a three-year employee engagement programme. In October, we were pleased to announce we received the Great Place to Work Certification following our entry in the Best Workplace Trust Survey, the world’s largest study of workplace excellence and people management practices. CHEC has also been shortlisted for the Tomorrow’s Care award 2023. As part of the employee engagement initiative, we also delivered a total of 21 Continuing Professional Development events. These events have allowed for top-tier insight and training opportunities. The recognition CHEC has received as a leading innovator, dedicated care provider and an excellent place to work demonstrates the successful year that we have had. Looking forward, CHEC’s growth and momentum will continue into 2023 and beyond! [1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-63583751 CHEC is excited to announce that its Patient Booking App has been shortlisted for the Tomorrow’s Care Awards 2023. CHEC’s Patient Booking App was launched earlier this year and is the first of its kind to be launched by a community health service. The app supports patients to be seen as efficiently as possible, allowing patients to flexibly book a time slot based on the urgency of their appointment. By giving patients a range of options for booking appointments, the app has helped minimise cancellations and missed appointments from patients. Jon Dore commented, “The shortlisting of our Patient Booking App demonstrates the positive impact it has had on our patients. The Patient Booking App is an important innovation that supports CHECs model of efficient, high-quality community ophthalmology services, which we continue to grow across the country. It’s great to see our hard work recognised alongside the other deserving finalists by Tomorrow’s Care.” The Tomorrow’s Care Awards are now in their seventh year, with the 20 finalists selected for being the most innovative products and services in the healthcare industry. Vote for Patient Booking App – CHEC here. Voting will remain open until Monday 13th March. Thank you for your continued support and fingers crossed we win the award!