4.3.2. Initial Assessment

In the GSC, a new patient was evaluated by a clinician who decided if the patient was eligible for the VC, based on the referral letter from primary care [49]. If eligible, the patient underwent testing, performed by ophthalmic technicians. Patients were also given a questionnaire enquiring about their medical and family history. The GE reviewed the collected clinical data and decided on a follow-up at the hospital or a discharge. In the GAC, new patients were systematically seen by the ONP without prior triage [46–48]. The ONP took the patient's history, performed tests, clinically examined the patient and assessed the patient's risk profile. The article of Choong et al. could be considered as the pilot study of the GAC, which did not include a VC yet [47]. It was presented as a fast-track system, which allowed an ONP to triage patients, including defining the time-interval in which patients needed to have their face-to-face appointment with the GE. Rathod et al. built further on this system and added a virtual service [48]. The ONP would again triage these patients, but the GE would do the initial assessment by reviewing the GAC data instead of a face-to-face assessment [48].
