18 April 2020

Covid-19 update: primary eye care

We are open seven days a week at FODO to support you throughout the Covid-19 crisis. If you need us, contact us as usual at [email protected]. 

In follow up to our Covid-19 update yesterday, today's update covers: 

• New: OFNC FAQs update 
• New: Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: step by step guide for employers 
• New: Insurance FAQs 
• New Covid-19 Urgent Eyecare Services (CUES), OFNC statement 
• Update: Covid-19 testing 

New: OFNC FAQs update 

The OFNC has now published updated FAQs about changes to primary eye care in England. 

All members that provide NHS GOS in England should read these FAQs in full. 

New FAQs include: 

• Q4. What you should do if you cannot get access to PPE 
• Q5. What you should do if an area team queries whether you are open to provide essential care 
• Q10. What to do if you are closed but want to now reopen 
• Q23. Which GOS form to use when dispensing without performing a sight test 
• Q25 to Q32. Providing urgent and emergency care during the crisis

FAQs 2 & 3 have also been updated.

The updated FAQ resource reorders questions into sections: 

• Providing essential care (Q1 to Q11) 
• Domiciliary services (Q12 and Q13) 
• GOS support for practices providing essential care during the crisis (Q14 to Q17)
• Relationship between GOS support and general support (Q18 to Q21) 
• Using GOS forms during the crisis (Q22 and Q23) 
• Urgent and emergency care (Q25 to Q33) 
• Optical staff taking other roles during the crisis (Q33 to Q37).                 

New Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: step by step guide for employers 

The HMRC has finally published its guidance on how to claim for employees’ wages’ through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS): a step by step guide for employers. 

The guide explains what you need to do and how the process will work in five steps. 

• Step 1: Essential information 
• Step 2: Before you make your claim 
• Step 3: Calculating your claim 
• Step 4: Making a claim 
• Step 5: What to do next 

All members using CJRS should read the guide in full.     

New: Optical workforce insurance Q&As 

The main optical sector indemnity cover providers (ABDO, AOP and FODO) have prepared Q&As to explain the insurance arrangements for the roles performed by the optical workforce during the Covid-19 crisis. Learn more.   

New: Covid-19 Urgent Eyecare Service (CUES) framework 

As we reported in yesterday’s Covid-19 update, NHS in England, working with LOCSU and the Clinical Council for Eye Health Commissioning, published a Covid-19 Urgent Eyecare Service (CUES) framework on 17 April 2020. 

The OFNC has welcomed the publication of CUES “to provide urgent and emergency services in primary care settings during the pandemic”, adding that the “new service framework will be particularly helpful in those areas of England where there are currently no locally commissioned urgent eyecare services in primary care. It must be commissioned rapidly in those areas, so that patients with urgent eyecare needs can receive care without having to visit a GP or hospital.” Read the full statement here. 

Read OFNC FAQs – questions 24 to 32 – for more information.   

New: Covid-19 testing 

Members have been in touch to ask whether there are websites to monitor when Covid-19 testing might be rolled out more extensively across primary care. At this stage, tests continued to be prioritised for other specialties. An overview is provided below. 

England 

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published guidance on getting tested for Covid-19. This confirms there are plans to roll out testing in a phased approach, including testing primary care staff, but acknowledges this “will take time to achieve”. There is also a video that explains the testing process. 

Northern Ireland 

At present, Covid-19 testing for healthcare workers in Northern Ireland is taking place at the SSE Arena in Belfast. This is a drive-through service and only accessible by appointment. Read more. 

Scotland 

The Covid-19 compendium, published 17 April, signposts to Scottish government guidance for NHS Boards regarding the testing of key health and social care workers for Covid-19 infection to enable them to return to work. The guidance commits to testing based on supporting critical service delivery in health and care settings. Read the guidance. 

Wales 

There is currently limited information on Covid-19 testing in Wales, but you might find this BBC Q&A on testing in Wales helpful.