A 2021 joint statement from The Royal College of Ophthalmologists and The College of Optometrists recommends that patients undergoing routine, uncomplicated cataract surgery are discharged directly to community optometry, without a hospital postoperative appointment [1]. The same guidance stipulates that refractive status and visual acuity should be returned to the operating centre for audit, and that a suitable data return mechanism should be agreed with primary care, yet establishing such a mechanism is challenging, requiring electronic integration between community optometry systems and hospital records. Among 198 centres submitting data to the National Ophthalmology Database Cataract Audit, postoperative refraction data were available for a median of only 62.8% of eyes; 11% of sites returned data for fewer than 10% of patients [2]. Optometrists are required to provide patients a written prescription after sight tests [3]. This printed refraction, which often includes visual acuity, offers a practical patient-mediated channel for outcome collection. We evaluated whether a mobile-phone-camera-based approach could achieve accurate, scalable data capture in a cataract population.

Sightsnap (Ufonia Ltd, Oxford, England) enables patients to photograph their optometrist’s printed refraction and submit it via a web link delivered by text message. Computer vision extracts sphere, cylinder, axis and visual acuity values with 99% accuracy. Sightsnap integrates with Dora, an AI telephone service deployed at participating sites for pre- and postoperative care; refractive outcome collection, therefore, extends an existing patient-facing pathway, requiring no additional clinical-team action. Outcome data are returned as structured reports or exportable datasets, and can be combined with other patient-level data held by the system. Implementation was evaluated across routine care for patients with a recorded mobile number. Data were collected as part of standard-of-care service evaluation; no ethical approval was required.