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Patient Discharge
Referrer FAQs
Effective May 1st 2025, the Centre for Eye Health will no longer be accepting any new referrals. Additionally, all existing patients will be discharged to appropriate, alternative care pathways over the course of 6- 12 months.
This decision has been made on a background of industry change, including an impressive uptake of imaging technology by Optometrists in the community, which has been associated with a significant increase in disease diagnosis and management capabilities. These changes have led to the transition of funding from early detection services, towards supporting low vision service offerings and promotion of social change by our founding organisation.
As this represents a significant change for both our referrers and patients, we have prepared some frequently asked questions to help address the implications of this decision. Additional inquiries can be made directly to the CFEH team at enquiries@cfeh.com.au.
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Why is CFEH no longer taking new referrals and discharging all patients?
Over the last few years there has been a marked increase in the availability of imaging instruments in community optometric practices, and optometrists have upskilled to make the most of this new technology and the insight to disease that it offers. This has led to an increase in the ability for chronic eye diseases to be managed in the community.
While Guide Dogs NSW/ACT wholeheartedly supports development of publicly-funded collaborative care pathways, and celebrates the incredible achievements of CFEH over the last 15 years, this profession-wide advancement and evolution provides the opportunity for the organisation to better align with purpose. Guide Dogs NSW/ACT will increase their scope of service offerings in the low vision space and put more emphasis on social change in alignment with their priorities for 2030 and beyond.
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My patient has been referred back to me for ongoing care, but I don’t have the experience / time / desire / imaging equipment to manage them effectively. What do I do?
We are transferring the care of your patient back to you with a full history and up-to-date imaging and diagnostic information, as well as a recommendation for on-going care. Using your clinical judgement, and taking into account the recommendations made, you can decide whether to refer them on to a colleague, public ophthalmology, private ophthalmology or manage them in your own practice.
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What information will be sent back to me after the final appointment at CFEH?
The CFEH team will send you a comprehensive final report through ZedDoctor (which recently replaced Medinexus) including:
- Clinical history and diagnosis
- Management plan and recommended follow-up timeframe
- Details of any specific equipment required for ongoing monitoring
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My patient can not afford private care, and the public hospital waitlist is so long that I am worried they will lose vision while waiting. What do I do?
Referrals to public ophthalmology are triaged based on the information submitted. Please ensure you submit all imaging and the patient report when referring into the public system. Please also be aware of the referral process for public ophthalmology in your local health district as this varies greatly. Ensure you make a “back up” appointment at your practice so that you can review the patient at an appropriate time and escalate care if necessary.
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Why are you stopping all referrals if you are operating until December? My patient only needs to come for an assessment.
Closing to all referrals is a necessary step to ensure we are able to review and safely discharge the patients already under our care. Based on predicated patient numbers and current appointment wait times, taking on any new patients is not possible. CFEH will still be offering Telehealth support to aid diagnosis and management decisions until June 2026.
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Do I need to see a patient you have referred back to me as soon as I receive the report?
We recommend booking the patient in for a short consultation to discuss the report and develop an ongoing care plan. If your clinical decision is to review that patient in your practice, they will then be added in to your routine recalls. If your clinical decision is to refer them on, that will allow you time to discuss the preferred referral option with your patient.
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If, next year, I need to request patient records for someone who attended CFEH, how do I do this?
We are required by law to keep patient records accessible for 7 years (adults) or 7 years after a child turns 18. These records will be available by request with further details on that process to follow later this year.
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If I have a Humphrey Visual Field Analyser, is there a way to get the digital patient records so that I can run a progression analysis for my patient?
Raw data from CFEH’s Cirrus OCT is complicated to transfer given the size of the raw data. HFA files however can easily be sent via email as requested as they are small files and easily exported from CFEH’s Forum database. Given that they require an HFA or Forum to be read, email is a safe medium for this from a privacy perspective.
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My patient has been managed in the CFEH Glaucoma Management Clinic. What is going to happen with their on-going care?
At this stage, we are still investigating potential pathways for our Glaucoma Management Clinic patients from the SES-LHD with Prince of Wales Hospital Ophthalmology. More details will follow soon.
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My patient has been to CFEH under the C-Eye-C program. What happens to these patients?
C-Eye-C patients will continue to be seen at CFEH Parramatta for the rest of 2025, and potentially for the first few months in 2026. We are currently working with C-Eye-C lead Prof Andrew White to explore alternative options for these patients from 2026. Those in the C-Eye-C program are actually patients of Westmead Hospital, and on-going care arrangements will thus be managed by them.
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I have only just purchased an annual subscription for your education program. Will your program continue or will I get a refund?
The CFEH webinar program is confirmed to run for the rest of 2025, through to mid-2026, and we are looking at options to continue this program beyond that time. Annual subscriptions include 4 interactive webinars as well as access to our online education catalogue, and everyone who has purchased our program will have the opportunity to attend 4 webinars in a 12 month period from the time of payment.
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What will happen with the UNSW student rotations at CFEH?
The closure of CFEH will be factored into planning for student rotations from 2026 by the School of Optometry and Vision Science, UNSW. We will continue to work with the school of optometry over the coming months to assist with their future plans.
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What will happen to the CFEH imaging equipment when the Centre closes?
Guide Dogs NSW/ACT will donate imaging equipment to support public health ophthalmic / collaborative care projects. These plans are still to be finalised, but where possible this equipment will help support the development of new referral pathways for the most vulnerable within our community.
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What happens if a patient was initially referred to CFEH by a doctor, or their optometrist is no longer practicing? Who do you discharge them to?
We recently asked our referrers to nominate themselves or their practice if they have an interest in taking on more disease management. We will be using this list of interested and equipped practices to take on patients with no pre-existing optometrist. We are still actively seeking more practices to be involved so that we can offer options in all areas of Sydney. If you would like to be added to our list, please fill out your details here.
