06 October 2023

FODO member update - 6 October

This week:

• England - CET claims window closing soon
• Promoting a routine sight test's importance in Wales
• WGOS regulations
• Wales says myopia control is cost-effective
• Scotland - Glaucoma update
• Other news
• Policy updates

England - CET claims window closing soon

Please note you must submit claims for CET grants before 2 November. More than 7,400 CET claims have already been submitted using PCSE Online. If you have not previously submitted a claim, you can read FAQs and watch a 'How to' video.   

Promoting a routine sight test's importance in Wales

This week, BBC Wales presenter Lucy Owen has explained how a routine sight test saved her eyesight. The presenter experienced flashing lights and eventually booked to see her optometrist, who arranged an urgent sight-saving referral to the hospital.
 
Health minister Eluned Morgan told the BBC that NHS hospital eye services were stretched and reiterated the importance of early diagnosis and management in preventing sight loss, praising primary eye care providers as "a whole army with the incredible skills needed to help us out within the community".
 
The Welsh government has also launched a campaign to encourage people to have a routine sight test, known as an eye examination, from 20 October this year when WGOS goes live.

The first minister also visited the School of Optometry in Wales to learn more about eye care education in Wales. Read more. 

WGOS regulations

In a follow-up to our update on WGOS regulations last week, Eluned Morgan MS, minister for health and social services, has published a written statement on reforms of primary care ophthalmic services.
 
The FODO policy team continues to work through the regulatory details. At this stage, members might find the high-level information below helpful:

• WGOS 1 and WGOS2 will be core services from 20 October this year. Please review the WGOS manual and send your feedback to us. Read more.
• While over 95% of GOC registrants in Wales have already completed CPD to provide enhanced eye care services (WGOS2), you will have 28 days after the regulations come into force to provide specific information to LHBs to evidence accreditation and provide the new mandatory eye examination service (see para 4.13 page 5).
• Pages 8-11 here set out voucher and repair values. Paragraph 9(3)(e) on page 6 explains the criteria for claiming an additional £15 when dispensing to a child with 4-6D. Please note that FODO will create a new 'vouchers at a glance' for Wales, accessible here in October.

While the regulations are long and a complicated read, we recommend, as a minimum, that members review the Duty to make available basic glasses (page 75) briefly here:

• A "contractor may accept the voucher in substitution for payment in relation to a pair of glasses only if the contractor has made available to the person at least one pair of basic glasses (whether or not the payment is in relation to those basic glasses or another pair of glasses)" [our emphasis].  
• Basic glasses "means a pair of glasses that are an appropriate fit for the person which - (a) meet the person's prescription, and (b) are of a value equal to or less than the face value of the voucher".  

Our reading of the regulations is that you must, therefore, have the choice of at least one basic option for patients within each voucher band, but a patient can choose to use their voucher towards the cost of an alternative option. Please also note that it is widely understood that the new lower voucher values are likely to result in fewer choices for patients who depend on vouchers.
 
In addition, practice owners should note:

• Schedule 1 (pages 44-51) sets out updated patient eligibility criteria.
• Schedule 4 (pages 74-90) provides an overview of the main changes at a practice level.

We will issue more detailed advice and support in the coming weeks. Please email us if you have specific questions at [email protected]. 

Wales says myopia control is cost-effective

Health Technology Wales (HTW) said its review of the evidence and cost-effectiveness of myopia control supports the 'routine adoption of orthokeratology and multifocal soft contact lenses to slow the progression of myopia in children and adolescents'. The HTW guidance states that "NHS Wales should adopt this guidance or justify why it has not been followed. HTW will evaluate the impact of its guidance". Read more. 

Scotland - Glaucoma update

Members in Scotland should note that the Directorate of Primary Care has published an update on the NHS Community Glaucoma Service (CGS).
 
The PCA explains there will be a 6% uplift in CGS fees from 1 April 2023 (i.e. backdated) and provides details on revised CGS directions, an update on CGS rollout and more.
 
If you are interested in or already delivering CSG, we advise you to read the PCA in full.

Other news

• Salford academic creates a new film to help glaucoma research
• The GOC is seeking a clinical and regulatory expert to advise on a testing of sight risk-based framework. Read more.
• Fight for Sight makes the case for collecting big data on eye care. Read more.

Policy updates

The Conservative party conference took place this week, with the prime minister saying that in England, the "NHS should reflect the modern world, giving a choice for any provider to be available to patients", and said he remained committed to an NHS free at the point of service.
 
In his speech, Steve Barclay, secretary of state for health and social care, focused on how to use the NHS's now £190 billion budget best to improve access to early diagnosis and support for patients, including the possibility of using AI to help improve access to care.
 
Meanwhile, Labour has set out its plans for the NHS, saying "its mission in government will be to build an NHS fit for the future: that is there when people need it; with fewer lives lost to the biggest killers; in a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer."
 
As with most recent government commitments, Labour also commits to shift the focus on healthcare from the acute sector into the community, boost prevention and early diagnosis and provide care closer to people's homes.
 
It adds that last time it was in government, it "reduced waiting times by using the private sector, increasing staff numbers and spreading good practice," and it will do it again. Read more.