An eye specialist from the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has been appointed as one of the national clinical leads for ophthalmology at a national NHS programme for improving the treatment and care of patients.

Dr Liz Wilkinson is a Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Royal Devon. She is both Clinical Director of Transformation across the Royal Devon and Clinical Director for the Centre of Excellence for Eyes (CEE) at the Nightingale, Exeter. She has now been appointed to the role of clinical lead for ophthalmology by Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT), which is part of an aligned set of programmes within NHS England (NHSE). The programme has the backing of the Royal Colleges and professional associations.

Dr Wilkinson, who has been with the Trust for 12 years, was formerly the NHSE Clinical Lead in Ophthalmology for the South West and NHS Devon Integrated Care Board.

Having completed an MA in Medicine at the University of Cambridge, she also undertook law studies, before undergoing physician training at St Thomas’s Hospital. Dr Wilkinson was the second female President of Ophthalmology at the Royal Society of Medicine and is immediate past president of the British Association of Retinal Screening. More recently she was a driving force behind the opening of the South Molton Eye Centre.

Dr Wilkinson, who will continue in her role at the Royal Devon alongside the GIRFT role, said: “I am delighted to have been appointed. We will be focusing on the strategy for ophthalmology in England and this will give the Trust a leading role in improving eye care in Devon.

“The Trust and patients across Devon will also gain from being so closely involved with GIRFT and seeing how other Trusts implement best practice and innovative care. The work we are doing with the Centre of Excellence for Eyes at the Nightingale already reflects how we are working towards that.”

Dr Wilkinson joins consultant ophthalmologists Lydia Chang and Jon Bhargava to lead GIRFT’s ophthalmology work, bringing medical retina expertise and leadership experience to the programme.

Together, the three clinical leads will work to offer focused support to trusts with the greatest opportunity for outpatient and inpatient improvement, including increasing capacity for high volume any complexity cataract operating lists. Through the GIRFT Further Faster programme, the team will also focus on identifying best practice for elective recovery, in particular sharing failsafe and innovative ways to develop outpatient capacity, such as diagnostics virtual review clinics.

Professor Tim Briggs, GIRFT Chair and National Director for Clinical Improvement and Elective Recovery for NHS England, welcomed Dr Wilkinson to the team, adding: “Cataract surgery is the single most common surgical procedure in the NHS, so it is vital that GIRFT’s work to free up capacity continues at pace, enabling more patients to be seen and treated effectively and in a timely way.

“Liz has a wealth of leadership and transformational experience from her years at the Centre of Excellence for Eyes, and I look forward to seeing how her expertise and knowledge can be shared with trusts to support elective recovery nationally.”