FOI240209: Ophthalmology equipment and contracts

Released 25 June 2024

Request:

1. What are your annual cataract volumes for the following periods?
   1. April 23 – March 24 
   2. April 24 – YTD         
2. What is the hospitals cataract target volume for 2023?   
3. What is the cataract procedure cost per patient for the following periods?
   1. 2021 April 23 – March 24 
   2. 2022 April 24 – YTD         
4. Who is your current IOL provider?
5. What is the current monofocal lens model that you primarily use? 
6. Do you have a secondary IOL for use in the hospital? If so, what is the lens model?
7. Do you use hydrophilic or hydrophobic IOLs?      
8. Do you use Toric IOLs?  
9. Do you have a Toric Pathway in situ?      
10. How many Toric IOLs were used in the following periods
    1. 2021 April 23 – March 24 
    2. 2022 April 24 – YTD         
11. What is your current purchase route for IOLs?    
12. Do you have a current contract in place for committed volumes?
13. What is the expiry date of your existing contractual agreements for IOLs?              
14. Who is your current phaco machine provider?    
15. What phaco machine model do you currently have?        
16. How many phaco machines are in situ in the hospital?    
17. What was the date of installation for the current phaco machines?           
18. Are they owned by the hospital?              
19. If not, are the machines paid for by phaco procedure packs and or IOLs agreement, if yes, what date is the agreement due to end?              
20. What is the renewal and replacement date allocated for the phaco machine?              
21. Does the hospital do VR procedures?      
22. If so, what VR machines are currently in situ?, and how many VR machines are there?
23. Does the hospital currently have any OCT diagnostic equipment?               
24. If yes, what is the make and model of the equipment in situ and what is the renewal and replacement date allocated?      
25. Does the hospital currently have an A/B scanner?            
26. If yes, what is the make and model of the equipment in situ and what is the renewal and replacement date allocated?      

Information disclosed:

Please note University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust currently runs three Ophthalmologic units at the following sites: Sussex Eye Hospital (SEH), Brighton; St Richard’s Hospital (SRH), Chichester and Southlands Hospital (SOU), Shoreham-by-Sea.

Our responses below are relevant to the whole Trust unless otherwise indicated.

1. Please see the table above for information relevant to this part of your request.
2. Target volumes are set per financial year, not calendar year as per your request. No cataract target volume was set relevant to the financial year April 2023 to March 2024
3. a-b.  The information you have requested is commercially sensitive and therefore exempt from disclosure under section 43(2) [commercial interest] exemption of the FOIA.
4. Rayner
5. Rayone – SEH; Rayone Aspheric – SRH and SOU
6. Yes, Alcon MA60AC – SEH; Alcon Anterior Chamber – SRH and SOU
7. Hydrophilic – SEH; Both – SRH and SOU
8. Yes
9. Yes
10. 1. 48 – SEH, SRH and SOU please see note below*
    2. 8 – SEH, SRH and SOU please see note below*
       *Please note at SRH and SOU the service does not currently record the number of Toric IOL used in any given period. This information is therefore not held by the Trust and not available under the terms of the Act at this time.
11. Consignment stock – SEH; Direct to supplier – SRH and SOU
12. Yes
13. We currently have two contracts in place, one covering SEH which expires in August 2024 and one covering SRH and SOU which expires in April 2026.
14. Alcon
15. Centurion
16. 3
17. These machines were installed around 2016.
18. Yes
19. Not applicable
20. Unknown; this information is not currently held by the Trust and therefore not available under the terms of the Act.
21. Yes
22. 2 Alcon machines and 3 Bausch and Lomb machines
23. Yes
24. Please see the table below for information relevant to this part of your request.
25. Yes
26. The Trust has a Quantel Compact Touch that is due to be replaced in 2028.