12 April 2024

FODO member update - 12 April

This week:

• Notice of FODO Group AGM
• College campaigns to tackle driving glare
• Tech update - AI and LLM
• ACLM reports 3.9 million contact lens wearers
• GOC consultation stakeholder event - open to all stakeholders
• Sector news at a glance
• Policy news

Notice of FODO Group AGM

FODO Group gives notice that it is holding this year's Annual General Meeting by videoconference from 10.30-11.30am on 15 May 2024.
 
The business of the meeting will include approving the 2023 annual report and accounts and election of Directors. If you are a member and interested in joining the Board, please email [email protected].
 
The online event is also an opportunity for members to meet the Board and ask questions about our work, the wider sector or any other area that matters to you. Register to join the AGM. If you cannot attend but would like the AGM to address any specific questions, please complete this form. 

College campaigns to tackle driving glare

Last week, we reported on how a campaign by the RAC, the College of Optometrists and others has resulted in the government commissioning an independent study into headlight glare.
 
This week, Paramdeep Bilkhu, clinical adviser at the College, joined BBC Morning Live to explain the impact glare can have on vision and driving, including on people with cataracts who can take longer to recover from glare. You can watch again here (12 minutes in). 

Tech update - AI and LLM

NIH researchers report that AI can make retinal imaging 100 times faster. Johnny Tam, PhD, who leads the Clinical and Translational Imaging Section at NIH's National Eye Institute, said they are developing adaptive optics (AO) technology to improve OCTs. He explained that AO will help take "OCT-based imaging to the next level" by being able to zoom in and spot issues sooner and compared this to "moving from a balcony seat to a front row seat to image the retina".

Meanwhile, two leading ophthalmologists ask whether we should believe the hype around the application of Large Language Models (LLM) in eye care. They conclude that applying LLM in eye care has some way to go. Privacy is one significant hurdle. They note that it is a 'major concern' as 'vast amounts of sensitive patient data' is required to train an LLM'. Read more. 

ACLM reports 3.9 million contact lens wearers

The Association of Contact Lens Manufacturers (ACLM) reports more than 3.9 million contact lens wearers in the UK, 8.9% of the adult population. The market in 2023 was worth £360 million, an increase of 5.6% since 2022. With daily disposables accounting for 79% of the market.

• Read the ACLM press release
• Read the Euromcontact report

GOC consultation stakeholder event - open to all stakeholders

The GOC Standards invites you to join an online consultation engagement event to discuss proposed changes to the Standards of Practice for Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians, Standards for Optical Students and Standards for Optical Businesses. The event is on 17 April and runs from 6-8pm. 

Sector news at a glance

• The Pitts Crick Career Development Fellowship is open to applications if you are interested in researching glaucoma. The fellowship is for a salary, plus up to £20,000 a year to cover research costs and dissemination. Learn more at Glaucoma UK.

• The Optician reports on 'the fall out' from GOS fees in England.

• Royal College of Ophthalmologists president responds to shadow health secretary's comments about improving access to care. Read more.

• The recent solar eclipse was widely reported in the media. Warnings about the risk of sight loss and eye damage during the solar eclipse were reported globally.

• NHS Blood and Transplant reports a new initiative with Specsavers to highlight the need for more people to 'give the gift of sight' through cornea donations. Read more.

• RNIB Cymru report: The cost of sight loss shows that people with sight loss suffer additional monthly costs of more than £200.

• Macular Society partners with UK's largest health research programme. Read more.

Policy news

• We previously reported that NHS England has updated its guidance on conditions for which over-the-counter items should not be routinely prescribed in primary care. FODO has engaged with clinical leads at the College of Optometrists who have helpfully reviewed the evidence base and agreed to lead on this on the sector's behalf.

• Crisis in pharmacy worsens, as MPs co-sign letter to health secretary Victoria Atkins warning that community pharmacy's "acute funding crisis" is putting the sector and services across England at risk.

• NHS England has responded to the DDRB submission on doctors' and dentists' remuneration. Its response asserts it would struggle to afford the DDRB recommendations without more central funding. It noted NHS funding is forecast to be 3.8% less in 2024/25 compared to 2021/22. It also stated that industrial action during 2023/24 has already cost £1.5 billion. It added that, based on current funding, the NHS needs to deliver a 2.2% efficiency saving, compared to 1% efficiency saving per year historically.

• The NHS in England has continued to expand the role of out-of-community diagnostic centre sites, reaching 160 and offering 7 million tests to date. Learn more.

• Patients prevented from joining the elective waiting lists by being diverted through advice and guidance (A&G) models, reports the HSJ.

• The HSJ also reports on an NHS Trust's plan to deliver private care, including ophthalmology, in a new NHS-funded unit.