21 January 2022

FODO member update – 21 January

This week:

• Covid update
• NICE - Diabetic retinopathy guideline
• Have your say: primary care in Scotland
• Snapshot wellbeing survey of the primary care workforce in England
• Making Tax Digital for VAT is coming - are you ready?
• Other sector news

Covid update

Members will be aware that in England, Scotland and Wales, governments have set out plans to lift Omicron restrictions. England also plans to end legally-binding self-isolation restrictions on 24 March, subject to no further major public health threats identified.
 
NHS England has advised that IPC guidance remains in place for in primary eye care. So, unless IPC guidance is updated, patients in England will still need to wear face masks when visiting their optician, even though the government intends to remove their mandatory use in England from 27 January.
 
Members in Northern Ireland are advised to read this guidance on self-isolation, and members in Scotland this updated guidance, both of which were last updated on 17 January.

If you have any questions, please contact us by emailing [email protected]. 

NICE - Diabetic retinopathy guideline

NICE is recruiting optometrists, ophthalmologists, and other professionals to join its diabetic retinopathy guideline committee. The deadline for applications is 5pm on 15 February 2022. Learn more and apply.
NICE is now consulting on its draft scope for the diabetic retinopathy guideline. The consultation will close at 5pm on 15 February 2022. Take part. 

Have your say: primary care in Scotland

The Health, Social Care and Sport Committee is exploring how patients access primary care?in Scotland. The inquiry focuses on non-GP sources of healthcare, such as eye care, that act as primary care (first point of contact) services. Read more and take part. 

Snapshot wellbeing survey of the primary care workforce in England

NHS England invites primary care professionals to take part in a short survey to understand how feelings of wellbeing change and develop over time. The survey should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete and closes on 31 January. 

Making Tax Digital for VAT is coming - are you ready?

HMRC urges VAT-registered businesses to sign up for Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT before the 1 April 2022 deadline, after which it becomes mandatory for all VAT-registered companies.
To sign up to MTD VAT, businesses, or an agent on a businesses' behalf, need to:

1. Visit GOV.UK and choose Making Tax Digital-compatible software
2. Keep digital records starting from 1 April 2022 or the beginning of their VAT period
3. Sign up and submit their VAT return through MTD.

An approved list of software compatible with MTD for VAT, including low-cost options, is on GOV.UK.

You can find help and support on how to sign up for Making Tax Digital on GOV.UK or your accountant can do this for you. 

Other sector news

Research and innovation

Moorfields Eye Hospital has inserted a bionic chip in a patient's blind eye.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Wilmer Eye report that as "many as a third" of patients with wet AMD might be able to stop eye injection therapy safely without further vision loss. Read more.

Moorfields reports on its emergency and outpatient ophthalmology video consultation service. It highlights the purpose, operational challenges with initial set up, early outcomes, and main lessons to date. Learn more.

The University of Bradford is looking for families affected by myopia to take part in focus groups. Researchers are looking into how myopia in young people can be treated and eye conditions associated with myopia minimised. Read more. If you have patients that would like to take part, they can get more information by emailing [email protected].

The MHRA has published a report on its review of chloramphenicol eye drops containing borax and boric acid buffers and their use in children under two years. Read the research and analysis.

The Optician reports on a new a campaign to create a UK myopia strategy.

Catch up on the College of Optometrists' What's trending in vision sciences.

Health policy

The Times has reported that Health Secretary Sajid Javid is seeking to start academy-style hospitals to improve NHS leadership in England.
 
Keir Starmer has set out Labour's Health Contract.

The Health and Social Care Committee has approved the appointment of Richard Meddings as Chair of NHS England. Mr Meddings is to replace current Chair Lord Prior of Brampton, who will stand down at the end of this financial year.

The Professional Standards Authority has released a statement supporting proposals in the newly published consultation 'Healthcare regulation: deciding when statutory regulation is appropriate'.

Market news

Newmedica plans expansion in 2022, the Optician reports. 

Compliance - recap

PCSE has published an update about the Department of Health and Social Care confirming that patient signatures on GOS claims became mandatory again from 1 September 2021. So, Covid-19 can no longer be used in place of a patient signature for sight tests or spectacle collections that have taken place from this date onwards.