Published date: 11 December 2024
Enhancing patient care in the local community: NHS Open Space and Optegra
A case study on NHS Open Space and Optegra’s partnership, powered by flexible, patient-centric solutions.
Founded in 2007, Optegra is an established UK-wide independent healthcare provider specialising in ophthalmic healthcare. As specialists in cataract and vision correction surgery, they operate from 19 custom-built hospitals to deliver these vital services privately on the NHS's behalf. More recently, they have extended their locations with a key partnership with NHS Open Space (Open Space).
"Open Space has allowed us to create greater reach for the patients who need access to these treatments. For patients seeking cataract treatment from the NHS, we're providing the initial assessments within an NHS building at a location close to their home. Only the surgery will take place in one of our main ophthalmic clinics, but it's still under the NHS pathway. And that, for me, is a huge positive as we create greater access, convenience and choice for patients."
Robert Pilling, Business Development Director, Optegra
The Challenge
Many Optegra patients have poor eyesight and may rely on carers and family members to support them in attending medical appointments. Optegra recognised this challenge and its impact on their patients and looked to ease this by limiting patients' drive time and being able to access local NHS services in their community setting.
To do this, Optegra had the idea of building a hub-and-spoke model, where their existing hospitals would act as central treatment centres for surgical procedures. However, they needed to find a partner with a portfolio of appropriately located, CQC-registered healthcare premises that could act as 'spoke' community-based diagnostic and assessment centres.
The Optegra team then began to search for potential solutions. They considered working with independent GPs to host assessments but found that this route was fraught with red tape and didn't offer them the scale and flexibility they needed. Open Space was the ideal solution.
"Optegra is providing a key and in-demand NHS service as one in three adults will get cataracts, so utilising NHS facilities can only be seen as a positive thing. Open Space was a speedy solution for us. Open Space's locations matched many of the areas we were looking at. I had also previously partnered with Open Space in a previous role and had a great experience using the service."
Robert Pilling
"When Rob, the team, and I went to the market to try and find spaces, some colleagues had initial reservations about Open Space. How would it work? What would be the impact on patients? It's fair to say that we have been pleasantly surprised. Our Optegra staff are very patient-focused and motivated to see patients in NHS settings. Even though we're a private provider, we offer vital NHS-funded services in a community setting. It's been a positive experience for all involved."
Darren Whitelaw, Head of Property and Asset Management, Optegra
The solution
Since signing up to Open Space in June 2024, Optegra has delivered 3,752 hours of vital eye assessments in local communities and has treated over 600 patients. They typically book eight-hour sessions across five sites: Failsworth Primary Care Centre, Havant Health Centre, Eastleigh Health Centre, Lance Burn Health Centre and Lever Chambers Centre for Health.
The key to the success of this result has been a strong partnership. Optegra identified areas where they were looking to support patients and found through the Open Space booking platform that they had properties in these locations. However, they needed to secure long-term bookings for these spaces to make the hub-and-spoke model work. They contacted the Open Space team and worked together to ensure that all customers, including Optegra, could be accommodated in a particular site.
"One of the things that I value most about working with NHS Open Space is the level of professionalism we've experienced. Plus, the flexibility of knowing that if a particular location isn't working for us, we can exit, and review alternatives. The flexibility offer by Open Space means there are no penalties; we pay for the rooms we’ve used and move to an alternative location."
Robert Pilling
Another vital element has been the flexibility of Open Space to accommodate regular long-term bookings at specific sites. Having the security of repeat property usage is essential to Optegra as it enables them to not only support the hub-and-spoke model they were looking to implement but also store expensive and delicate diagnostic equipment securely at these sites. Regularly moving this equipment would mean that it would need to be recalibrated each time, impacting the volume of patients being assessed. While equipment storage is not typically part of the service offered, the Open Space team was able to facilitate this due to Optegra's continued commitment to use these rooms.
What does the future look like for Optegra and NHS Open Space?
By the end of December 2024, Optegra will double its usage of Open Space by regularly using 10 Open Space properties. It also has exciting plans to open more diagnostic clinics in 2025.
"I would recommend working with the Open Space team. If you're looking for a flexible solution to support you in delivering healthcare in a CQC-registered, safe environment that patients in the community will be aware of, then Open Space is the right place to go. It helps patients get the right care and attention in their local community setting and prevents them from waiting a long time for treatment. We operate on a four-to-six-week referral to treatment pathway, and working with Open Space helps us to achieve just that."
Robert Pilling
