Richard Lee

Consultant Ophthalmologist in Ophthalmology

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Biography: Richard is a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon based at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust with a special interest in Glaucoma and Cataract Surgery. He is the Service Director of the Ophthalmology department at Chelsea and Westminster.

Horizon Fellowship project summary: Ophthalmology is listed as a priority in the High Volume Low Complexity (HVLC) Programme which falls under NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) initiative. Part of HVLC includes optimising and standardising pathways whilst improving theatre productivity. Efficiency savings to the ophthalmology pathway have been identified using Ufonia’s artificial intelligence (AI) Innovation ‘Dora’.

Dora is an AI-enabled autonomous voice-based clinical assistant and uses automation to deliver high-volume, low-complexity clinical conversations via a normal phone call. Dora therefore increases clinical capacity, reduces costs and provides a more reliable, convenient and consistent experience for patients.

Estimated number of patients / staff impacted by the project: 400

Goal(s) for time on the Horizon Fellowship programme: Richard hopes to learn new skills and acquire knowledge to better evaluate promising digital technologies for potential start-up applications. He is also keen to develop himself and the offers available so that NHS patients have enhanced patient care and quality of life.