The NHS in the South East is making encouraging progress in reducing waiting times for ophthalmology services with help from an AI telephone assistant Dora and virtual clinics. 

Alongside efforts across the region to expand surgical capacity, an intelligent telephone assistant is speeding up referrals and reducing the administration burden, freeing up clinical staff time to focus on surgical work.   

These efforts have seen 70% of patients seen within 18 weeks of referral in July 2025, up from 65% in July 2024, marking a positive step forward in tackling delays and ensuring patients receive timely treatment. 

Trusts across the region have been calling upon Dora, an AI phone assistant which phones patients to ask pre-operative questions and determine who needs to be seen by a clinician, as well as managing post-op follow up calls. 

Dora calls patients waiting for cataract surgery, speaks to them in a natural voice and gathers medical history. DORA is also capable of offering patients a choice of treatment locations based on waiting times and distance from their home acting as a single point of access for referrals, providing clear options to patients.  

In Hampshire and Isle of Wight alone, the average waiting times for low complexity cataract surgery has reduced from 35 weeks at the beginning of January 2024, to 10 weeks or less, with Dora playing an important role.  

In Frimley it has been used to successfully reduce the length of time from surgery to follow up contact, from 10 weeks to just two. 

Dr Christopher Tibbs, Interim Regional Medical Director for NHS England South East, said:  

“We know how important timely access to ophthalmology care is for patients, and I’m pleased to see the region making real progress in this space.  

“There is a long way to go still, but our teams have worked hard to reduce waiting lists by improving referral processes, increasing clinical capacity, and making better use of technology.  

“We are committed to improving people’s experiences of the NHS and ensuring it is there for people when they need it. We’ll continue to support systems to build on this momentum and ensure patients receive the care they need when they need it.” 

In Hampshire, alongside Dora a range of initiatives by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) have helped drive down the ophthalmology waiting list by almost 1,000 patients, and a 19.4% improvement in the number of patients seen within the 18-week referral to treatment standard. 

The introduction of a new Optical Coherence Tomography, (a non-invasive imaging technique used to create detailed, cross-sectional images of tissues in the eye), has enabled new patients to be assessed via a virtual clinic, resulting in faster review and discharge rates. This approach has allowed more patients to be seen compared to face-to-face clinics, with 20 patients seen per virtual clinic against 10-12 in a face-to-face clinic. 

Along with an increase in the number of one-stop cataract clinics which have enabled patients to be seen and assessed in a single visit, speeding up surgical assessment and reducing the need for multiple clinic appointments, HHFT has also introduced a grading system for the waiting list to identify patients suitable for high-volume lists increasing the number of patients per surgical list by two.