“I am delighted to be joining the GIRFT team to focus on strategy for ophthalmology in England, in particular seeing how other trusts implement best practice and innovative care and being able to share that nationally to support recovery.”
Dr Wilkinson is a consultant ophthalmologist and the clinical director for transformation across all specialties, services and sites at the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. As the clinical director for the Centre of Excellence for Eyes at the Nightingale Hospital, Exeter, she is experienced in providing innovative, high flow eyecare pathways in cataract, medical retina and glaucoma.
She is formerly the NHS England clinical director in eyecare for the South West region and for the NHS Devon Integrated Care Board.
She was the second female president of ophthalmology for the Royal Society of Medicine and is the immediate past president of the British Association of Retinal Screening.
Ophthalmology is one of the busiest specialties in the NHS, carrying out more than 500,000 operations every year and more than 7.5 million outpatient appointments. Core ophthalmology services – related to cataracts, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic eye conditions – are provided in almost every NHS trust in England.
Professor Tim Briggs, GIRFT Chair and National Director for Clinical Improvement and Elective Recovery for NHS England, welcomed Dr Wilkinson to the team:
Cataract surgery is the single most common surgical procedure in the NHS, so it is vital that GIRFT’s work to free up capacity continues at pace, enabling more patients to be seen and treated effectively and in a timely way. Liz has a wealth of leadership and transformational experience from her years at the Centre of Excellence for Eyes, and I look forward to seeing how her expertise and knowledge can be shared with trusts to support elective recovery nationally.”
