Dr Peter Thomas, director of digital development at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (Credit: Moorfields Eye Hospital)
Digital initiatives such as video consultations have been “integral” to the trust’s number one ranking in the NHS league tables, said Dr Peter Thomas, director of digital development at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Moorfields was ranked first out of 134 acute trusts in the NHS acute trust league tables, published on 9 September 2025, among eight specialist hospitals occupying the top spots.
Thomas said that the introduction of video consultations during the pandemic helped the trust to consistently hit its four-hour wait target for patients, as well as improve triaging and information for patients on-site.
“Video A&E consultations contribute to our performance by reducing unnecessary trips for patients, which in turn frees up our clinicians to see patients with conditions requiring emergency care.
“They have been demonstrated to be effective in definitively managing many patients, and ensuring others are directed to the correct service first time,” he explained.
Other services have also adopted video consultations, enabling patients to get specialist care without having to travel onsite.
Thomas highlighted that the single point of access (SPoA) service in North Central London is driven digitally, coordinating care across the region and improving the quality of referrals.
The SPoA was developed in partnership with primary care, other trusts, independent sector providers and North Central London Integrated Care Board, and “contributes to better quality and fewer incorrect referrals”.
“This means more patients got to the right service first time, significantly reducing the number of incorrect referrals leading to assessments that are followed by discharges without treatment.
“Our SPoA model is driving conversation nationally – its combination of digital innovation and clinical expertise, and its focus on breaking down barriers between hospital and community care are delivering benefits across the sector,” Thomas said.
AI at Moorfields
Moorfields has been part of the NHS England CLEARnotes ambient AI pilot for the past year, which found that ambient voice technology “saves clinicians time writing letters, enabling them to spend more time with patients,” Thomas said.
The trust will be continuing with ambient voice technology beyond the pilot and following procurement processes to select a supplier.
Moving forward, the next steps for digital transformation at Moorfields including using its “digital twin for improving information we give to patients as part of our SPoA”, Thomas said.
“We have an innovative patient portal, and we were one of the first trusts to go live with digital questionnaires on the NHS App.
“We’re looking forward to integrating the NHS App with our SPoA so that patients can get information about their referral and make their informed choice of provider on it,” he added.
The trust has also long been a leader in applying AI to eye images, identifying markers and signs of a wide range of physical and mental health conditions as well as eye diseases.
“The next stage for this is bridging the translational divide between our research work and its widespread application on the clinical frontline,” Thomas explained.
The trust’s electronic patient record (EPR) for ophthalmology, OpenEyes, which was developed by Moorfields, has since been adopted by more than 60 trusts and providers in the UK and internationally and is supported by an open-source community under the Apperta Foundation.
“Our leadership in the creation of dedicated ophthalmic diagnostic and imaging hubs, such as in Brent Cross Shopping Centre, together with dedicated support for asynchronous review pathways in OpenEyes, has enabled us to offer many of our patients an alternative to traditional face-to-face clinics where appropriate.
“These visits are much quicker, and closer to home for patients, more efficient for the hospital and have been shown to deliver excellent clinical care quality and patient satisfaction” Thomas said.
OpenEyes will be integrated with MEDITECH’s Expanse EPR, which is expected to go live in spring 2026.
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