17 July 2020

FODO’s Friday roundup – sector news 17 July

In this week's round up:

1. PSA rejects allegations about GOC
2. European Coalition for Vision urges citizens to attend for eye care services
3. Face coverings to become mandatory in England
4. Non-UK optometrists and opticians eligible for Health and Care Visa
5. Optrafair and 100% Optical merge to create one UK industry show
6. One in five adults report reduced vision during lockdown
7. CET claims - England
8. LOCSU annual report 2018-19

1. PSA rejects allegations about GOC

The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) has considered claims made on change.org about alleged conflicts of interest in the GOC's governance structure and the suggestion that it was "not fit for purpose".  The original petition, started by an anonymous source claiming to be an optometrist, called for greater transparency and made several claims about the GOC's Covid-19 guidance and governance structure and other registrants. The petitioner then called on the PSA to investigate their allegations.

The PSA reviewed claims made in the petition and found that:

• The GOC had consulted with an appropriate range of stakeholder organisations before publishing its Covid-19 guidance
• The GOC had acknowledged when its Covid-19 guidance could have been clearer and worked with professional bodies to clarify this at the time
• There was no evidence of undue influence by a specific individual or business registrants.

In short, the PSA found no evidence of serious concerns about the performance of the GOC or grounds for undertaking a special investigation into the alleged conflicts of interest or other matters raised in the petition.

Read the PSA's full statement.  

Although it is right to raise concerns where necessary, it is also essential for members of the profession to keep in mind GOC standard 17.2, about ensuring "conduct in the online environment, particularly in relation to social media, whether or not connected to your professional practice, does not damage public confidence in you or your profession".

It is important to raise legitimate concerns and to do so in a professional way, which includes basic due diligence such as checking whether a petition is run by an anonymous source and on a credible platform - some online petitions can be changed after you have signed them. For example you can inform the PSA directly about any concerns by using the official feedback form. Members can also discuss any concerns with us directly by contacting us in the usual way.   

2. European Coalition for Vision urges citizens to attend for eye care services

The European Coalition for Vision (ECV) has written to Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and the chairs of key health EU and Commission committees to raise awareness about eye health issues following the pandemic. It called on MEPs to reassure citizens during the pandemic and encourage patients to seek help for eye and vision problems.

David Hewlett, President, European Coalition for Vision, also told MEPs that the coalition was still on course to promote several seminal publications on sight loss and self-reported eye and vision problems in Europe later this year. The communications are part of the 2020 Year of Vision initiative. These will include important new prevalence data for the UK.

3. Face coverings to become mandatory in England

In England, face coverings will become mandatory in shops from 24 July, following Scotland, where wearing face coverings in shops has been mandatory since 10 July.  

In England people will have to comply or face a £100 fine unless they fall into one of the legitimate exception categories. These include: young children under the age of 11; being unable to put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or mental illness or impairment, or disability; putting on, wearing or removing face-covering causes severe distress; and if providing assistance to someone who relies on lip-reading to communicate.

We expect Public Health England to issue further guidance on this shortly and will share this once it is published.

You can also read specific guidance for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.    

4. Non-UK optometrists and opticians eligible for Health and Care Visa

This week the Government launched a new Health and Care Visa so that UK health and care services can recruit qualified healthcare professionals from aboard. At this stage optometrists and opticians are on the list of eligible professions. 

The new visa system is expected to cost less and speed up the application process for eligible professionals that wish to work in the UK from 1 January 2021. Overseas healthcare workers will also now be exempt from the Immigration Health Surcharge.    

5. Optrafair and 100% Optical merge to create one UK industry show

The Federation of Manufacturing Opticians (FMO) and Media 10 have reached an agreement that will see 100% Optical and Optrafair events replaced by one event from 2021 onwards. The announcement followed confirmation that Optrafair 2020 was to be cancelled due to Covid-19.

Event organisers hope consolidating events will provide a single annual show that will attract a larger number of visitors and support from the sector, with the 2021 show planned to take place under the 100% Optical brand at the London ExCel centre in late January.

A FODO spokesperson said "We have long called for a single UK show and welcome this move especially with more people accessing the information they need online and lower conference turnouts than in the past. All European trade shows are suffering, and this consolidation will hopefully strike the right balance between in-person and online content and networking."

FODO added, "We have a long history of supporting Optrafair and working closely with the FMO and look forward to continuing this into the future. We hope that the joint sector event, with economies of scale will result in competitive prices for exhibitors and like many other healthcare events it will move around the UK and not be exclusively London centric".

6. One in five adults report reduced vision during lockdown 

The College of Optometrists has suggested that millions of people could be experiencing a deterioration in sight following the lockdown period, with one in five adults surveyed telling the College they felt their vision had become worse in the last four months. Read more.  

7. CET claims - England

PCSE has announced that this year the claims window for CET claims will be delayed because of Covid-19. This year, claims will all be managed online, and members are advised to:

• Ensure you are set up or have a login to authorise claims online
• Help authorise claims for self-employed optometrists whom you have engaged during the year
• Make sure you do not delay claims unduly by having established systems
• Contact us if you have any problems using the system or authorising claims.

Read more about the process.   

8. LOCSU Annual Report 2018-19 

LOCSU has published its 2018-19 annual report reflecting on the NOC 2019 conference and setting out plans for the year ahead. The report includes LOCSU's then financial position which revealed it had built up a £997,000 reserve. This cushion has enabled LOCSU to offer levy payers a fee holiday during phase one of the pandemic. Read the full annual report.