A project co-funded by the European Union and
the European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons
The project aims to support improved treatment and standards of care for cataract and refractive surgery. This will be achieved through the development of a Europe-wide network of National Registries reporting clinical outcomes of cataract and refractive surgery. EUREQUO aims to make a significant impact on the exchange of best practice between practitioners in relation to patient safety in this field.
The National Ophthalmology Societies of the participating countries will have an active role in the implementation of the project at national level.
The project is a three year programme, made up of an assessment phase in year one (2008), a pilot phase in year two (2009-2010), and roll-out phase in year three (2010-2011).
Scientific basis behind EUREQUO project
The initiative of implementing the European Quality Registry drew from the experience of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) that already supported two independent Quality Registry Systems: the European Cataract Outcome Study (ECOS) and the Refractive Surgery Outcomes Information System (RSOIS), both systems administrered by EyeNet Sweden.
In Sweden, quality registries have existed since the beginning of 1970's. Currently, EyeNet Sweden covers most quality registries concerning eye diseases. Existing national quality registries within the field of Ophthalmology are the Swedish National Cataract Registry (NCR) (1992), the Swedish Registry for Corneal Transplants (1996) and the Registry for Macular Diseases (2003).
In 2006 a sub-section of the NCR, the Registry for Pediatric Cataract, started in order to collect data concerning cataract in children under the age of 8 years old. EyeNet Sweden is also cooperating with a registry for children with ROP (retinopathy of prematurity).
A National Registry will be set-up in each participating country. The ESCRS will work closely in each country with its partners, the National Ophthalmology Societies in the creation of quality registries and implementation of the EUREQUO database. The data collection will involve individual practitioners, small and medium sized clinics, large hospitals and university institutions and will be monitored and supported by the project partners and National Registry Managers. Once a data is recorded it will be processed and disseminated in all database. The data collection will be via the internet, all participants will be able to source, through the Internet, comparing the accuracy of their outcomes with those of colleagues in their own regions and other countries as well as the entire database.
This web-site arises from the project EUREQUO which has received funding from the European Union, in the framework of the Public Health Programme