20 September 2024

FODO member update - 20 September

This week:

• National eye health week!
• College suggests parents start children's sight tests at three
• Welsh government signals intention for fair uplift for optometry
• GOC - from vicious to virtuous circles
• PCSE advises PMS providers to update code before WAF changes
• At a glance
• Health policy

National eye health week!

This year's National Eye Health Week (NEHW) kicks off on 23 September. It will promote the importance of good eye health and the need for regular eye tests for all. Look out for FODO updates throughout NEHW here. 

College suggests parents start children's sight tests at three

The College's survey revealed that one in five parents depend on school sight screenings and the average age for a first eye test is five.

In response, the College has urged "parents of toddlers to start having their sight checked by an optometrist at around age three" and emphasises the importance of doing so for those with a history of eye problems or needing strong prescription glasses. 

Welsh government signals intention for fair uplift for optometry

Responding to the 37th NHS Pay Review Body and 52nd Doctors and Dentists Review Body reports, the Welsh government has said that while optometry falls outside this process, it wants to see "a fair and proportionate pay uplift across primary care",  including NHS optometry. It added that government "officials will engage in negotiations with representative bodies on the proposed uplift for this year" per the government's agenda. 

GOC - from vicious to virtuous circles

Steve Brooker, director of regulatory strategy at the GOC, discusses the 2024 registrant survey and the correlation in the data between respondents experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse at work and difficulties in providing patients with sufficient care.

The GOC Council is to approve "tougher professional standards that will explicitly reference behaviour between colleagues and require businesses to put in place support for registrants who have experienced discrimination, bullying or harassment in the workplace."

Mr Brooker also covered positive findings from the survey. He concluded that the sector "must be a collective interest in turning the current vicious circle into a virtuous circle in which a growing, diverse, happy and upskilled workforce serves a wider range of eye care needs."

Read more.

PCSE advises PMS providers to update code before WAF changes

The PCSE IT team will make WAF changes in the Live eGOS API environment on 26 September at 6pm with no system downtime required.

It aims to enhance security and provide best-in-class encryption for data, improving cyber resilience and removing the need for client-side certificates, so PMS providers must update their code before 28 October 2024 if they are still using TLS 1. Further information.  

At a glance

• MSPs welcome National Eye Health Week's seven-day push to encourage people to have regular eye exams to save sight. Read more.
• A Senedd research report highlights significant problems in the hospital eye service across Wales. While acknowledging primary care reforms will take time to embed and deliver system benefits, the hospital eye service must also reform.
• The American Academy of Optometry has awarded the 2024 Essilor Award for Outstanding International Contributions to Optometry to Dr Godwin Ovenseri-Ogbomo, senior lecturer in optometry at the University of the Highlands and Islands. Read more.
• Scottish eye hospital to shut for six months for urgent plumbing repairs. Read more. 
• AI grading tool for diabetic retinopathy receives funding boost. Read more.
• Routine sight test detects papilledema in neurosurgeon's child. Read more.
• Teesside University to deliver new MOptom (Hons) optometry from September 2024.

Health policy

• Wes Streeting has committed to being "honest about the problems facing our country, and serious about solving them", simultaneously expressing his frustration at how slow the "Whitehall machine works". He said the NHS 10-year plan will set out how this government will move from analogue to digital, hospital to community, and sickness to prevention.
• Ara Darzi shares insights from his investigation into the state of the NHS, highlighting the need for effective access and high-quality care. He told the Guardian the NHS must change, including moving from a sickness model of health policy to a health creation one.
• This week, Darzi also co-authored Our greatest asset: The final report of the IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity, which sets out how better health is Britain's greatest untapped route to prosperity. 
• Marsha de Cordova has said she is delighted to be re-elected as chair of the Eye Health and Vision Impairment APPG.
• Party Conference season is under way, with the Liberal Democrats first to get together and share priorities. On health, they said the NHS needs to transform and should focus more on community-centric healthcare. Ed Davey told the conference that his party would hold the new government to account.
• The Lib Dems also announced Helen Morgan as its Health and Social Care spokesperson, replacing Daisy Cooper, who moved to the Treasury as spokesperson. Jess Brown-Fuller is now spokesperson for Hospitals and Primary Care. 
• NHS managers in Wales have criticised first minister Eluned Morgan after saying she would hold them to account for long waiting times. Read more.
• Neil Gray, health secretary in Scotland, has said the NHS is not in crisis, although ministers were working on reforms to help bring down waiting times. Read more.
• Community pharmacists to vote on "work-to-rule". The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) will ballot members on whether they should keep to strict 40-hour weeks as per their contract. The move follows what the NPA describes as a 40% cut in funding since 2015/16 after adjusting for inflation. Read more.