ACES (Birmingham)

Updated 29 March 2023

Anglia Community Eye Service Limited (ACES) is an independent provider of NHS ophthalmic care in the community and aims to be one of the first centres at a national level to take fast track cataract surgery out of a hospital setting, this is what the service told us.

The service aims to provide a community acute day care service for cataract surgery. The service is offered to patients choosing to come to ACES for day surgery who are referred by either their GP or optometrist.

The main objectives of the service are to:

• Reduce waiting times for patients with eye conditions.
• Give all patients the choice of a community-based provider and more convenient location.
• Provide Care Closer to Home for the patient in local GP surgeries, in line with Department of Health guidelines.
• Reduce overall waiting times in the health economy.
• Create additional capacity in secondary care.
• Aim to provide a fast and efficient patient focused pathway in collaboration with patient representatives and primary care professionals.
• Use new technologies and the latest equipment, striving to maintain their care at the cutting edge of ophthalmology.
• Ensure that they comply with all regulatory requirements and encompass the latest national and local guidelines.
• Ensure that they comply fully with the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, with reference to all staff and patients using the service.

ACES (Birmingham) had undertaken one pre-operative assessment clinic where 9 patients attended, and the outcome from that was 1 patient was suitable for treatment between October 2022 and February 2023.

The service first registered with CQC in October 2022. ACES (Birmingham) has a registered manager in post and is registered with the CQC to provide the following regulated activities:

• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
• Diagnostic and screening procedures
• Surgical procedures

The service does not treat children.

Services that will be provided at this location include:

• Outpatient appointments

• Cataract surgery

• Laser surgery

• Minor procedures around the orbital rim

• Glaucoma monitoring

• Pre assessment for cataract surgery

The main service we inspected was surgery, which incorporated diagnostic and screening checks of the eyes before and after treatment. We have not reported this aspect separately.

The service did not provide outpatient appointments at the time of our inspection therefore this was not included in our report.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care, we ask the same 5 questions of all services: are they safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs, and well led. The main service provided was surgery. Where our findings on surgery also apply to other services, we do not repeat the information but cross-refer to the surgery service level.

The service had only carried out 1 procedure for an ACES patient during the time of inspection. Therefore, we have not been able to rate the following domains; effective, caring and responsive, as we did not have enough evidence to rate them against our framework.

Updated 29 March 2023

We carried out an inspection of ACES Birmingham, part Anglia Community Eye Service Limited, using our comprehensive methodology on 8 February 2023. This was the first time we inspected the service. We rated it as good because it was safe, and well led, we have not rated effective, caring and responsive as we did not have enough evidence at the time of the inspection.

We have not previously inspected the service. We rated it as good because:

• The service had enough staff to care for patients and keep them safe. Staff had training in key skills, understood how to protect patients from abuse, and managed safety well. The service controlled infection risk well. Staff assessed risks to patients, acted on them and kept good care records. They managed medicines well. The service managed safety incidents well and learned lessons from them.
• Managers monitored the effectiveness of the service and made sure staff were competent. Staff worked well together for the benefit of patients and had access to good information.
• The service planned care to meet the needs of local people, took account of patients’ individual needs, and made it easy for people to give feedback.
• Leaders ran services well using reliable information systems and supported staff to develop their skills. Staff understood the service’s vision and values, and how to apply them in their work. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. They were focused on the needs of patients receiving care. Staff were clear about their roles and accountabilities. The service engaged well with patients and the community to plan and manage services and all staff were committed to improving services continually.

We rated this service as good because it was safe, and well led.

Updated 29 March 2023