The Lutra Story: Why We're Joining Up Eye Care

We founded Lutra Health as two ophthalmologists who’ve spent much of our careers working across NHS and independent sectors and seeing the same problem everywhere.

Despite huge advances in diagnostics, imaging and treatment, the way information flows through eyecare hasn’t kept up. Patients are referred without the right data, clinicians work blind to what’s already been done, and too much time is lost to paperwork and process.

We didn’t create Lutra to add another layer of technology. We built it because we were tired of seeing great clinicians and anxious patients held back by disconnected systems.

Our Motivation

We've both experienced the daily frustration of fragmentation:

• Patients waiting months for appointments that could have been triaged in days.
  
  
• Optometrists sending referrals into a void, chasing updates that rarely arrive.
  
  
• Ophthalmologists wading through incomplete information or manually entering data that already exists elsewhere.
  

We wanted to fix the hidden gaps between optometry and ophthalmology, to make those handovers clear and connected. Lutra is our way of doing that.

The Scale of the Challenge

Ophthalmology is now the busiest outpatient specialty in the NHS, accounting for nearly 10% of all hospital appointments.

Around 9 million outpatient visits take place each year and yet over 650,000 patients are currently on waiting lists in England alone.

Demand continues to rise as populations age and earlier diagnosis becomes possible through community testing and digital imaging. Meanwhile, workforce pressures mean services are struggling to expand capacity fast enough.

Community optometry has the clinical expertise and equipment to help, but the infrastructure for collaboration hasn’t kept pace. Referrals are often sent via letter, fax or unstructured email. Imaging files stay trapped in local systems and feedback from secondary care can take weeks or months to reach the optometrist, if at all.

This disconnect costs time, resources and, ultimately, patient vision.

What if Eye Care Worked Differently?

We asked ourselves that question throughout our careers and Lutra Health is our answer.

We believe that great care happens when everyone in the pathway - patient, optometrist and ophthalmologist - can see the same information, in real time.

So we built a secure, interoperable platform that enables joined-up digital pathways across community and secondary care. Lutra acts as a Single Point of Access (SPA) for eyecare - bringing together referrals, triage, advice & guidance, patient choice, image sharing and outcomes into one connected workflow.

How Lutra Supports Secondary Care

NHS hospitals and independent providers use Lutra to manage incoming referrals more intelligently.

• Digital triage: Ophthalmologists can review all referral data, including images, tests and notes, before deciding the most appropriate pathway.
  
  
• Advice & guidance: Clinicians can respond directly to optometrists within the platform, often resolving cases without the need for a hospital appointment.
  
  
• Patient choice: Lutra supports direct booking into local NHS or independent services, helping patients access care sooner and closer to home.
  
  
• Post-operative assessments and PROMs/PREMs: Providers can collect patient-reported outcomes and experiences digitally, ensuring compliance with CMA and PHIN requirements.
  
  

This reduces administrative load, improves case allocation and helps every clinician work at the top of their licence.

How Lutra Supports Community Optometry

For optometrists, Lutra turns what was once a disconnected handover into a collaborative exchange.

• e-referrals can be created in minutes, with imaging and clinical data uploaded in standardised formats.
  
  
• Two-way communication allows optometrists to receive feedback, advice, or outcome data directly from ophthalmology teams.
  
  
• Image sharing and interoperability mean data flows securely to where it’s needed - not into a void.
  
  
• Outcome reporting gives practices a way to evidence quality, demonstrate patient benefit, and strengthen their role in local care networks.
  
  

In short, it helps optometrists do more for patients without adding workload.

For Patients: Clarity & Confidence

Patients see the biggest difference of all.

Their journey becomes transparent, they can be referred, triaged, and treated without the confusion of lost paperwork or unclear communication. Lutra allows their data to move with them, so they don’t have to repeat tests or explain history at every step.

By joining up the pathway, we shift patients from passive waiting to active participation.

In short, it helps optometrists do more for patients without adding workload.

Building Bridges, Not Barriers

Lutra doesn’t replace existing systems, it enhances them.

We’ve designed it to integrate with EHRs, imaging platforms, and regional referral systems, so that data flows freely and securely. Every element complies with NHS Digital and UK GDPR standards.

Our goal isn’t disruption, it’s alignment.

In short, it helps optometrists do more for patients without adding workload.

The Future We See

We both came into medicine to improve lives and Lutra is an extension of that.

We see a future where:

• Every patient journey is connected, from optometry to ophthalmology and back again.
  
  
• Referrals are standardised and triaged digitally, not buried in paper.
  
  
• Clinicians communicate directly, sharing insight instead of admin.
  
  
• Outcomes are measured routinely, and feedback flows both ways.

Eyecare can be faster, fairer and more joined up.

That’s the vision that drives us and the reason we built Lutra Health.