The Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee and the College of Optometrists have written to the minister of state for care to emphasise the importance of optometry in upcoming healthcare reforms.
The Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee (OFNC) and the College of Optometrists have written to Stephen Kinnock, minister of state for care, to emphasise that the 10-Year Health Plan must prioritise optometry in upcoming healthcare reforms.
They are calling for the government to make a long-term commitment to optometry, as part of its plans to move care from hospital to the community.
This includes the universal commissioning of community and urgent eye care services (MECS and CUES) to release capacity in hospitals to deliver consultant-led care, alongside enhanced IT connectivity to ensure more fluid communication between primary eye care providers and hospital services.
The letter, from Gillian Ruddock, president of the College of Optometrists, and Paul Carroll, chair of the OFNC, welcomes government recognition of the importance of improving IT connectivity and streamlining the interface between primary eye care and the hospital eye service.
It continues: “It is arguably even more important that there is recognition of the role of all parts of primary care as the critical first port of call for patients and gatekeepers to hospital services, doing so will help to realise the potential of providers to relieve pressure on secondary care.”
Long-term investment
The economic benefit of universal commissioning of MECS and CUES is highlighted in a co-commissioned report from the Association of Optometrists, Fight for Sight, Primary Eyecare Services and Roche Products.
The report suggests that four system-wide changes – national rollouts of CUES and integrated glaucoma and cataract pathways, as well as further use of optical coherence tomography in community settings – would save the NHS £98 million a year in England.
In the letter, the OFNC and the College of Optometrists emphasise the critical role optometry professionals play, as the first point of contact for patients and the gatekeepers to hospital services.
Primary eye care is already helping to reduce ophthalmology waiting times, but needs greater support to maximise its impact, the letter continues.
Ruddock and Carroll highlight the fact that 95% of the UK’s eye health needs are met within the primary eye care setting, and that because of this healthcare reforms are unlikely to succeed without long-term investment in the sector.
