13 September 2024

FODO member update – 13 September

This week:

• FODO asks members to complete OFNC survey
• Major review of NHS calls for investment in primary care
• GOC survey reveals ongoing workplace challenges
• Scottish Government to act on budget deficit
• Managing possible mpox cases
• PCSE - eGOS PVN rejections
• At a glance
• Health policy

FODO asks members to complete OFNC survey

The OFNC is running a GOS survey to capture concerns raised by GOS contractors about the growing gap between GOS funding and the cost of delivering an NHS sight test.

FODO members in England are asked to complete the survey by 5pm on 30 September. 

Major review of NHS calls for investment in primary care

Lord Darzi's independent investigation finds the NHS is in a "critical condition" and must now make structural changes to financial flows to deliver more care out of hospital and closer to home. FODO has welcomed the report. Read more. 

GOC survey reveals ongoing workplace challenges

The GOC's latest Registrant Workforce and Perceptions Survey 2024 reveals challenging working conditions.

While only 15% (4,575 out of 30,970) of GOC registrants took part in the survey, 58% said they were satisfied with their job, 17% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied and 25% reported being dissatisfied. A total of 68% said their work was rewarding and interesting and 60% said they had a good working environment, and just 35% felt they had a manageable workload or good salary. The leading reasons for dissatisfaction were not feeling valued, a heavy workload and poor salary.

A majority felt comfortable raising concerns about safety with their employer, while only 48% felt comfortable reporting such concerns to the GOC.

On working conditions, 42% of survey respondents reported experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse from patients/members of the public in the last 12 months. In addition, 20% reported experiencing this from managers, 18% from other colleagues and 8% from educators.

While most respondents reported that the GOC ensured the quality of optical education, just 37% felt the GOC charged reasonable fees and only 39% felt the GOC was fair to registrants when taking actions through the fitness to practice process.

Read more. 

Scottish Government to act on budget deficit

Shona Robison, the Scottish finance secretary, has written to the Scottish Parliament's Finance and Public Administration Committee to set out how the government will balance the 2024-25 budget.

The letter sets out how pay pressures alone could result in a £800 million budget deficit and highlights interim measures to help balance the books. This includes £2.4 million of "non-recurring savings realised in the community eye care programme budget line" and an unspecified amount from the 're-phasing of optometry costs'.

FODO Scotland is working with Optometry Scotland to understand in more detail what the government plans to do and will provide an update in due course. 

Managing possible mpox cases

The College of Optometrists has issued guidance on how to manage potential mpox (previously known as monkeypox) cases in primary eye care settings.  It stresses that this initial round of guidance is focused on "a state of preparedness rather than an action stage". FODO advises IPC leads to read the full college guidance. 

PCSE - eGOS PVN rejections

PCSE has set out changes it is making to how it will check pre-visit notification (PVN). All domiciliary providers in England should read the update in full. 

At a glance

• The College of Optometrists says its new app will help connect members, transforming collaboration across the sector. The app will include discussion forums, clinical guidance, a jobs board, shareable patient resources and much more. Read more.
• The AOP will join Progressive Britain at the Labour Party conference on 22 September. Read more.
• NICE approves Faricimab for treating visual impairment caused by macular oedema after retinal vein occlusion. Read more. 
• The latest hospital waiting time data for England shows 606,819 incomplete ophthalmology pathways at the end of July. However ophthalmology services are seeing more than 65% of people within the 18 week target.
• The Royal College of Ophthalmologists celebrates the next generation of by welcoming more than 150 fellows. Read more.
• The RNIB celebrates ParalympicsGB athletes success. Read more
• Army veteran discusses world's first eye transplant. Read more.
• Seven marathons in seven days to raise money for sight-saving research. Read more.

Health policy

• Read FODO's response to the Darzi report.
• Jeremy Miles is appointed as health secretary in Wales.
• The Liberal Democrat MP, Layla Moran, has been elected as the chair of the Health and Social Care Committee. Read more.
• Paul Corrigan has been appointed by the government to help shape health plans. Corrigan will work closely with Wes Streeting to help the government's 10-year health plan for England. Read more.
• The think tank Reform has published A prescription for prevention, Reimagining Health: a framing paper and? Close enough to care. Paul Corrigan, new government adviser, is also member of Reform's Reimagining Health Council, a group of policy experts that provide insight and advice on the programme.
• Community Pharmacy England indicates Pharmacy First is not going as planned, including much of the promised £645 million is unlikely to be spent without further changes to the scheme. Read more.
• The NHS Confederation warns that Labour's goal to deliver an extra 40,000 NHS appointments each week will not be enough to achieve the 18-week waiting time target. Read more.
• NHS Providers say NHS hospitals face massive financial pressures. The survey of NHS trusts found 51% of respondents were "extremely concerned about delivering operational priorities within their organisation's 2024/25 financial budget". Read more.