Five experiments tested the idea that instructing a witness to close their eyes during retrieval might increase retrieval success. In Experiment 1 participants watched a video, before a cued-recall test for which they were either instructed to close their eyes, or received no-instructions. Eye-closure led to an increase in correct cued-recall, with no increase in incorrect responses. Experiments 2-5 sought to test the generality of this effect over variations in study material (video or live interaction), test format (cued- or free-recall) and information modality (visual or auditory details recalled). Overall, eye-closure increased recall of both visual detail and auditory details, with no accompanying increase in recall of false details. Collectively, these data convincingly demonstrate the benefits of eye-closure as an aid to retrieval, and offer insight into why hypnosis, which usually involves eye-closure, may facilitate eyewitness recall.

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There are over 400,000 cataract operations now being performed annually in the UK. With the majority of those patients being elderly, co-morbidities such as dementia or arthritis can prevent patients putting in their own post-operative eye drops. Where there is a lack of family or other support, district nursing services are often called upon to administer these eye drops, which are typically prescribed four times a day for four weeks, thus potentially totalling 112 visits for drop instillation per patient.To reduce the burden of these post-operative eye drops on district nursing services, administration of an intra-operative sub-tenons depot steroid injection is possible for cataract patients who then do not require any post-operative drop instillation. As a trial of this practice, sixteen such patients were injected in one year, thus providing a reduction of 1792 in the number of visit requested. Taking an estimated cost of each district nurse visit of £38, this shift in practice potentially saved >£68,000; the additional cost of the injection over the cost of eye drops was just £8.80 for the year. This practice presents an opportunity to protect valuable community nursing resources, but advocacy for change in practice would be needed with secondary care, or via commissioners. Key WordsCataract, cataract surgery, ophthalmic solutions, community health nursing Key Points-Cataract surgery is the most common surgical intervention in the UK -With the ageing population, a growing number of patients are unable to instill their own eye drops post operatively and require district nursing support -A depot steroid injection intra-operatively removes the requirement for postoperative drops, thus permitting redeployment of valuable district nursing resources