17 November 2023

FODO member update - 17 November

This week:

• FODO to freeze fees for 2024
• Sector units to deliver The Eye Care Support Pathway
• Sector raises concerns about access to eye care in Northern Ireland
• Other sector news
• Policy updates

FODO to freeze fees for 2024

Membership and insurance costs will not increase in 2024, FODO has announced.
 
Harjit Sandhu, managing director, said: "We have now completed a complex round of negotiations with insurers and, having tested the market, secured stable premiums for 2024. We are also keeping membership fees stable for 2024."

Benefit from insurance, legal defence, guidance, support and influence. Apply for membership today. 

Sector units to deliver The Eye Care Support Pathway

The RNIB, in collaboration with the wider sector, has published The Eye Care Support Pathway.

FODO joined other senior leaders from the NHS, social care and third sector on 16 November to discuss how to help ensure everybody with an eye condition or sight loss receives the vital information, advice, and practical and emotional support at every stage of their eye care journey.

Harjit Sandhu, managing director at FODO, said: "We, along with other sector partners, have endorsed this important document, which sets out how to best support people with eye conditions. The RNIB team has demonstrated how, through collaboration and genuine consultation, it is possible to bring the entire sector together around a common vision."

He added: "We now all need to continue to work together to deliver this vision. It is, at its heart, about getting the basics right and having a massive positive benefit on the people we serve. Nobody in the UK should have to live with an eye condition or sight loss without the fundamental information and support set out in The Eye Care Support Pathway."

Read the full report.

Sector raises concerns about access to eye care in Northern Ireland

Optometry Northern Ireland (ONI) and RNIB NI have called for urgent action to address the risk of worsening eye health inequalities because more people will struggle to access essential sight-testing services. FODO and the College of Optometrists have also raised concerns.

When Northern Ireland switched to Universal Credit (UC), about 200,000 people suddenly were required to complete a complex form to assess their eligibility for a GOS-funded sight test. This has created significant challenges for people who depend on vital UC support to access this essential primary care service. ONI is leading sector efforts to raise awareness about this issue.

A FODO spokesperson said: "At the heart of this issue is that ONI, RNIB NI and the College of Optometrists, like FODO, recognise that the sight test is the bedrock of the eye health system. The sight test provides a universal eye health assessment, case-finding and vision correction service from which all other eye care services flow, including ophthalmology. We support the call by ONI, RNIB NI and the College of Optometrists to end this new inequality in access to core primary eye care services."

Other sector news

• This week LOCSU hosted another successful National Optical Conference. Learn more.
• ABDO to launch new paediatrics certificate. Learn more.
• The latest eye care statistics show patients in Wales continue to wait too long for hospital eye care. Read more.
• Rhianon Reynolds will take over from Gwyn Williams to become the Llywydd (or presiding officer) of the RCOphth in Wales.
• GOC achieves Customer Excellence Standard. Read more.        
• PCSE is introducing a new way of working to improve its Disaster recovery process. Learn more.
• Dr David Parkins, Dr James Gilchrist and Professor Andrew Jonathan Jackson have been awarded life fellowships at the College of Optometrists. Consultant ophthalmologists Parul Desai and Melanie Hingorani have been awarded honorary fellowships. Read more. Congratulations to all from FODO!

Policy updates

This week's reshuffle has resulted in significant changes at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

• Victoria Atkins MP is the new secretary of state for health and social care. A barrister by training, she was previously financial secretary to the treasury between October 2022 and November 2023, and minister of state at the Ministry of Justice and minister for Afghan resettlement between September 2021 and July 2022.
• Rt Hon Andrew Stephenson MP, Minister of State in DSHC.
• The Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP has been appointed parliamentary under secretary of state in DHSC.

LOCSU has now confirmed that Neil O'Brien MP, previous parliamentary under secretary of state in DHSC, wrote to the sector in September asking it to develop a standard service specification for MECS. A FODO spokesperson said: "Work on a standard service specification is under way - the group will include all sector bodies, including FODO. We have not published a detailed member update on this specific project as the priority at this stage is to develop a standard service specification in collaboration with sector partners, and view this in the context of the Provider Selection Regime. Once we have outputs from this work, we will update members in a coordinated way with sector partners."
 
The chief optometric adviser in Wales has written to thank the profession and all sector bodies for their support in helping deliver WGOS reforms. Read the letter. 

Inflation has fallen sharply from 6.3% to 4.6%. The ONS notes that housing and household services provided the main downward contribution, with food also a major contributor.
 
The HSJ reports that Wes Streeting, shadow health and care secretary, has said more must be done to promote patient choice. Despite patients having a right to choose a provider for consultant outpatient care, Mr Streeting said that patient surveys have shown most people have never been offered a choice by their GP since Labour introduced the policy in 2008.
 
The NHS Standard Contract team will be running a webinar to provide an introduction to the NHS Standard Contract. It's on 23 November, 2.00-3.15pm, and you must register in advance if you wish to join.
 
NHS England has agreed an initial two-year contractual framework for Pharmacy First (2023-2025). Subject to appropriate digital solutions being in place, the service is expected to formally launch on 31 January 2024. Pharmacists will be able to offer advice to patients and supply NHS medicines (including some prescription-only medicines under patient group directions (PGDs)), to treat seven common health conditions, including shingles and earache. Cost control measures will mean there will be a budget for just 12 million consultations per year, within an initial cap of 3,000 consultations per month per contractor.