Nenagh Hospital wins award for improving eye care access

Eye clinic increases throughput and reduces cancellations despite increase in activity

More patients are getting access to time-sensitive eye injections at Nenagh Hospital thanks to a quality improvement project that has also reduced the number of cancelled appointments and increased overall throughput at the ophthalmology outpatients clinic.

The Ophthalmology OPD (outpatient department) Transformation Project has now been recognised nationally for its positive impact on patient care – winning a Bright Spark clinical innovation award at the HSE’s annual Spark Summit.

The Nenagh initiative, under project lead Adebusola Owokole, has successfully redesigned outpatient services to deliver measurable improvements in productivity, patient flow and access. Activity data from 2025 showed that the transformation project had achieved significant positive results for ophthalmology patients.

Key outcomes included:

• 60.7% reduction in cancellations compared to the previous year
• 17.2% increase in clinic throughput
• 46.6% improvement in access to time-sensitive treatments

This was achieved with no increase in staffing and in spite of an increase in overall clinic attendances from 4,257 to 4,375 patients over the period in question.

“For patients, the improvements mean more timely access to specialist ophthalmology services, fewer disruptions to care and a more predictable appointment system,” Ms Owokole explained.

“The transformation also delivered major gains in treatment-focused activity. Day clinic attendance increased by more than 17%, while the number of intravitreal therapy (IVT) procedures, a critical eye injection treatment used to prevent vision loss in patients with retinal conditions such as macular degeneration, rose from 521 procedures in 2024 to 764 in 2025. The increases are particularly significant because retinal treatments are highly time-sensitive and delays can have a direct impact on a patient’s sight and quality of life,” she added.

The Nenagh Ophthalmology OPD Transformation Project focused on redesigning workflows, improving scheduling processes, streamlining patient pathways and making better use of available resources. Detailed procedural audits also showed substantial reductions in waiting times and variability across key stages of the patient journey, including doctor reviews, imaging, pre-operative assessments and nursing processes.

As a result, patients are moving through clinics more efficiently; bottlenecks have been reduced; and the service has been able to provide more care without an increase in workforce.

The project aligns closely with the objectives of the HSE Spark programme, which supports healthcare staff to identify innovative solutions that improve productivity, patient experience and sustainability within health services.

Ms Owokole said: “This project was always about improving the experience and outcomes for our patients. Through teamwork, innovation, equity, diverse perspectives, and a shared commitment to continuous improvement; we have created a more efficient and reliable ophthalmology service that is helping more patients access the care they need, when they need it. The results show what can be achieved when frontline staff are empowered to redesign services around patients.”

The award highlights the continued development of Nenagh Hospital as a regional centre for specialist ophthalmology services. The hospital has been providing cataract surgery since 2018 and IVT injections and expanded outpatient services since 2023.

The Ophthalmology OPD team continues to expand its service innovation agenda with preparations advancing to commence dedicated glaucoma clinics, complementing the advanced laser services available in Nenagh.