Natalia Wojtowicz

Ophthalmic Clinical nurse practitioner

Biography: I am an ophthalmic clinical nurse practitioner specialising in medical retina field. I joined CWH Ophthalmology in January 2024 to support the expansion of nurse-led services. My role involves multiple aspects of direct care of ophthalmic patients, such as diagnosing and treatment. As a CNP I also participate in development and implementation of protocols and competency frameworks and I am involved in the management and quality assessments. I am responsible for evaluation of the service and finding new strategies to improve efficiency, safety and patient’s satisfaction. Currently, one of the most exciting parts of my role is leading on the implementation of ‘Dora’ AI solution into our cataract surgery pathway. As someone very passionate about healthcare, innovation and sustainability, I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of this amazing initiative that can make a great impact on the service provision within Ophthalmology and potentially across the all Trust.

Horizon Fellowship project summary: The Project is to deploy an automated telephone-based AI system “Dora” to undertake telephone calls to patients across cataract pathway. Dora can telephone patients and have a routine clinical conversation as an alternative to this needing to be done by healthcare staff. Dora therefore increases clinical capacity, reduces costs and provides a more reliable, convenient and consistent experience for patients. We have successfully completed phase 1 (Dora alongside current pathway) which enabled clinical validation in May. We are now planning phase 2 (Dora alone), which will replace a significant amount of clinical activity and free up capacity.

Estimated number of patients / staff impacted by the project: 1000/year

Goal(s) for time on the Horizon Fellowship programme: I am keen to join the fellowship to gain a better understanding of the project management and processes related to implementation of innovations, which I could utilise within my department or possibly on a larger institutional scale.