Information for Practitioners
GOS Information
See the GOS page on this website
NHS Mail
If you have issues with your NHS Mail account you can find contact details here:.
Go to Page NHS Mail HelpReferrals
All referrals by practitioners within Greater Manchester for a patient with a Greater Manchester GP should be made through the Opera electronic referral platform. This will route the referral appropriately and also enable GP look-up. You can find guidance on the urgency of referrals here:
Download pdf Guidance on the Urgency of Referrals in GM
In the event that you have to use a paper referral as a fallback, there is an electronic PDF template here:
Download pdf GOS18 Electronic.pdf
This second version allows for digitally signing the referral. There are also instructions explaining digital signatures:
Download pdf GOS18 Electronic with digital signature.pdf
Download pdf GOS 18 signature guidance.pdf
The Low Vision Leaflet (LVL) for putting visually impaired people in touch with social services can be downloaded here:
Download The Low Vision Leaflet (LVL).pdf
Internal Practice Referrals
This is most useful for occasional locums who find themselves in the position of needing to request a repeat procedure on another day but will not be back in the practice to follow it up. The sight test is not complete until the outcome is determined, so if this depends on a repeat test, then the sight test is unfinished. The ideal is to follow these up personally but, where this is not possible the patient can be formally referred in writing to another [resident] practitioner in the practice for the procedure to be completed and any action taken. Making a referral in this manner completes the sight test. You can download a referral template from the AOP website.
Download Pdf AOP Internal Referral Template
Download Pdf Guide to the use of the AOP internal referral template
Diabetic Retinopathy Screening
In both the North and South of Greater Manchester the diabetic eye screening is provided by InHealth using a mix of optical practices and other sites or both.
The Public Health England Webite has information on DR screening:
Learn More Diabetic Eye Screening ProgrammesEffective Use of Resources
GM’s EUR policies are intended to ensure cost-effective use of limited NHS resources. The main ones affecting optometry are those covering cataract surgery, benign eyelid lesions, ptosis and also one on “other aesthetic surgery” which includes a section on strabismus in adults. In brief, the removal of benign eyelid lumps and bumps and squint surgery for cosmetic reasons is not commissioned within GM
Download pdf GM EUR Cataract.pdf
Download pdf GM EUR Benign Eyelid Lesions.pdf
Download pdf GM EUR Eyelid Ptosis.pdf
Download pdf GM EUR Other Aesthetic Surgery (Strabismus).pdf