NHS
·

Automating the Cataract Pathway at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust

3,173Patients
1,150+Clinical hours released
4.7/5CSAT Patient Satisfaction
Dr Katrina MasonAssociate Medical Director
Assisted by AI
Claude Opus 4.5Claude Opus 4.5
Automating the Cataract Pathway at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust

Executive Summary

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) implemented Dora in 2022 to manage patients through its cataract surgery pathway. A formal analysis of all patients from October 2024 to September 2025 demonstrated safe and effective patient care, high patient satisfaction, and operational efficiencies for the trust.

Dora: An entire cataract pathway solution at FHFT

FHFT have deployed Dora across the entire cataract patient pathway with five automated calls from triage and pre-operative reminders to post-operative follow up and collecting patient reported outcome measures (PROMS).

Dora cataract pathway showing five stages: Triage + Pre-op, One-stop clinic, Pre-op Confirmation, Clinical Follow-up, and 2nd Eye Booking

Key Report Outcomes

The 12-month analysis demonstrated that automation can deliver high-volume care without compromising quality.

Patient Volumes

3,173 completed patient pathways were managed through 14,594 scheduled calls with an overall 80% completion rate.

Operational Efficiency

Released over 1,150 hours of clinical time back to the service, reducing nurse clinics from 10 to 1-2 per week, allowing redeployment to other clinical activity. Identified patient cancellations early, allowing for theatre list back-filling.

Patient Satisfaction

9,047 patients rated the service 4 or 5 out of 5 (CSAT). Patients described the system as "clear and simple," "reassuring," and "professional," noting the convenience of being able to call at their preferred time.

Clinical Safety

Successfully triaged post-operative patients identifying 857 (28%) who required in person clinical review for issues such as new floaters, redness, pain, or lack of vision improvement.

Efficiency & Scalability

Dora supported five distinct conversation types across the pathway, with the post-operative follow-up achieving the highest completion rate at 88%.

Before and after Dora comparison showing the reallocation of staff from follow-up calls to pre-assessment, macular clinic, and glaucoma clinic

"We started using Dora for post-operative follow-up three years ago and have been able to reduce our nurse-led telephone follow-up clinics from ten sessions a week to just one or two, and repurpose our experienced nurses into glaucoma and macular clinics where their expertise is most needed. For pre-assessment, we've also been able to add extra patients into our clinics."

Miss Manju Chandran,Consultant Ophthalmologist
NHS Frimley Health
Miss Manju Chandran
Share
Share on XShare on LinkedIn