16 February 2024

FODO member update - 16 February

This week:

• Consultation - Supporting patient choice in England
• Wes Streeting reiterates support for more eye care on the high street
• GOC standards consultation
• Claiming CPD grant in Wales
• Obituary: Malcolm Polley
• Other sector news
• Health policy news

Consultation - Supporting patient choice in England

FODO, the association for eye care providers, is consulting on the draft guidance 'Supporting patient choice in England'. The guidance explains patients' legal right to choose their ophthalmology provider and answers FAQs on implementing the national rollout of direct referral from primary to secondary eye care services.

• Read the draft guidance
• Provide feedback by 8 March

FODO will also meet sector partners to discuss the possibility of publishing additional joint resources on patient choice in 2024. If you have any questions or would like to contribute further to this or any other guidance, please email [email protected]. 

Wes Streeting reiterates support for more eye care on the high street

Shadow health and care secretary Wes Streeting MP told the RNIB that his party was "committed to delivering more routine outpatient care in high street opticians".

He said the 6,000 high street opticians in England were "equipped with specialist staff and kit that can get patients seen faster. We will put them to work to beat the backlog and free up hospital specialists to treat the patients in serious need. All at greater convenience to patients and better value for the taxpayer." Read more.

GOC standards consultation

The GOC has launched its consultation on revised Standards of Practice for Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians, Standards for Optical Students and Standards for Optical Businesses.
The revised standards follow stakeholder engagement and research into patient and public views.
 
Steve Brooker, GOC director of regulatory strategy, said: "The current standards have served the sector well and will mostly remain unchanged. However, we are proposing important revisions to bring the standards up to date with developments in technology, strengthen protection for patients in vulnerable circumstances and address negative behaviours in the workplace."
 
Read more and respond by 8 May. Alternatively, send your feedback to the FODO policy team at [email protected] by 30 May. We will gather members' feedback and reflect this in our response to the GOC. 

Claiming CPD grant in Wales

Members in Wales should complete this CPD claims form and submit it by email to [email protected] by 12 March. 

Obituary: Malcolm Polley

ABDO, FODO and OSA have paid tribute to Malcolm Polley, who sadly died on 10 February after a long illness. 
 
FODO director David Hewlett said: "Malcolm will be sadly missed. He was old school in the very best sense: a gentleman without peer, a generous colleague with a warm sense of humour, and a great friend to all who knew him.  Our warmest thoughts are with Jean, their children and families and all Malcolm's friends at this very sad time."  

Other sector news

• ABDO has elected Brenda Rennie FBDO to be its next vice president. Read more
• Wales: December 2023 eye care measures for NHS outpatients
• Survey on diabetes and eye health during Covid-19 launched. Learn more and share
• SPOKE's February issue - Building confidence in communicating with patients: College of Optometrists (college-optometrists.org)
• Eye News reports: inaugural IP education session hailed a hit
• ABDO reports on FDA designation for myopia lens
• Improvements made to BOSU to make it easier to participate. Learn more.
• BIOS extends deadline for child vision screening survey. Take part by 20 February
• BIOS joins call for better pay and funding
• Study reports some ethnic groups are at higher risk of retinal damage from diabetes. Read more.
• Optician reports: The Times Health Commission recognises primary care optometry.

Health policy news

Last week, we reported on the crisis in primary care and the week before on primary care continues to suffer real-term cuts. FODO managing director Harjit Sandhu set out how the NHS had promised for many years to shift care out of hospital and invest more in primary care but had failed to do so.
 
This week, the King's Fund think-tank published a Call for radical refocusing of health and care system to put primary and community services at its core, which supports FODO's analysis of the state of primary care in England.
 
The think-tank reports that "despite successive governments stating a commitment" to "grow and invest in primary and community health and care services", this has failed to materialise and "is one of the most significant and long-running policy failures of the past 30 years".
 
Harjit said: "The King's Fund's latest report confirms what eye care, audiology, GP, pharmacy and dental colleagues in primary care have said for years. This adds to the growing body of evidence that the NHS must now focus more on primary and community services to avoid systems failures."
 
Saffron Cordery, NHS Providers deputy chief executive, said: "Headlines and political priorities focus on a narrow set of acute-focused targets. But prevention is better than cure and with the right funding and workforce then community, primary and social care can play an essential role. 
 
She added that "primary care services help people to stay well, manage their conditions and live independently, which is better for patients and can help to ease pressure on the rest of the NHS". 
 
Other policy news

• NHS comes top of the public's biggest election issues 
• New Scottish health secretary promises reform for NHS 
• HSJ reports on more ICSs in financial distress.