13 October 2023

FODO member update - 13 October

This week:

• Wales: Important - WGOS reforms
• England: Changes to GOS regulations
• England: Changes to NHS diabetic eye screening intervals 
• World Sight Day
• Patients continue to wait for hospital eye care
• New app for childhood myopia
• WHO launches the WHOeyes app on World Sight Day
• Other sector news
• Policy updates

Wales: Important - WGOS reforms

Following our WGOS regulations update last week, NHS Wales SSP has sent an email today setting out actions that practices in Wales need to take.

The 13 October email includes documents to help you prepare for WGOS implementation from 20 October, this includes a letter on actions required and checklists for practices and practitioners.

It also advises that the Eye Care Wales website is being updated on a regular basis and will include manuals, webinar recordings and Q&A sheets from webinars.

If you have not received a copy of the email, please contact FODO at [email protected] and we will forward the information.

England: Changes to GOS regulations

We updated all members in July about planned changes to GOS regulations in England. NHS England has now written to confirm that all GOS regulatory changes were laid in parliament on 20 July 2023. Read NHS England's latest letter.

We advise all practice owner members in England to read the correspondence in full so you are current on all planned process changes. Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions.

England: Changes to NHS diabetic eye screening intervals

England has now aligned its NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme screening intervals with Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland following the UK National Screening Committee's recommendations. Individuals at lower risk of diabetic retinopathy will be invited for screening every two years instead of annually, starting this month.

World Sight Day

World Sight Day on 12 October highlighted the importance of eye care for working adults. It included the benefits of vision correction in enabling people to work and live independently and not suffer the impacts of uncorrected refractive error.

FODO managing director Harjit Sandhu said: "As the world's attention is drawn to the fact that people still struggle to access these basic services, we should celebrate the phenomenal population and public health benefits of our national sight testing service. We wish everybody a happy World Sight Day."  

Patients continue to wait for hospital eye care

NHS England's latest statistics on referral to treatment waiting times for consultant-led elective care show ophthalmology remains the second largest with 641,538. Of those, almost 20,000 are waiting over 52 weeks, and nearly 5,000 more than 65 weeks.

In Wales, the latest data shows more than half of pathways waited longer than their target time, with over 150,000 patients waiting for a hospital eye care appointment.   

New app for childhood myopia

Aston University and Ulster University have launched a new app to help manage childhood myopia. The Predicting Myopia Onset and Progression Risk Indicator (PreMO) app is free for clinicians. It aims to provide data that helps predict children at risk of myopia. It also stores clinical data and generates patient-friendly reports. Learn more.

Please note: GOC registrants should talk to their organisation about IT and clinical governance policies before using third-party software to manage patient needs. 

WHO launches the WHOeyes app on World Sight Day

The World Health Organization (WHO) launched an eyes app on World Sight Day.

The free 'WHOeyes' app allows the public to check how well they can see things close and at a distance and learn how to protect their eyes. WHO says it can help check visual acuity and encourage people to act sooner if they notice a problem.

Dr Bente Mikkelsen, WHO director for noncommunicable diseases, said the organisation hopes the new app will enable people to check their vision and provide "quick tips for eye care on an app, as people use their phones daily, and many people are unaware that they have a vision problem until it is too late".

The app is available in all six UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). You can download it for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play. 

Other sector news

• Stem cell therapy helps restore sight in victims of chemical attacks. Learn more.
• Dionne Spence, director of regulatory operations, will be leaving the GOC after nearly five years of service, during which she helped transform and streamline the regulator's FtP processes. Read more.
• The Welsh Government has republished the outcome of the Optometry Contract Negotiations 2023-24. It had already shared this information in its response to the consultation on eye care reforms.
• RNIB says delays in the Access to Work scheme threaten blind and partially sighted people's jobs. Read more.
• Outside Clinic sets an ambitious growth target and launches new recruitment drive. Read more.

Policy updates

At the Labour party conference, shadow health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said the NHS in England must modernise or die. 

He reiterated policy goals to shift from hospitals to community care, from analogue to digital, and treatment to prevention.

The HSJ also reports that Mr Streeting would address the Treasury's 'legitimate scepticism' about health spending if Labour wins power.