13 December 2024

FODO member update – 13 December

This week:

• New study highlights defective eyesight among UK drivers
• FODO CPD
• FODO news is changing in 2025
• FODO opening hours over the festive period
• GOC updates
• NHS England - October performance statistics
• At a glance
• Health policy

New study highlights defective eyesight among UK drivers

The University of Warwick has conducted the UK's largest roadside vision screening survey in collaboration with the National Police Chiefs' Council, the Older Drivers Forum, and Eye Health UK.
The study involved conducting number plate tests on 3,010 drivers and found:

• 1.7% of drivers failed the test - the equivalent of 720,642 motorists
• 50% of those who failed the test were not using their required vision correction when stopped by the police
• 40% of motorists had not had a sight test in the last two years.

Dr Carol Hawley of Warwick Medical School wrote the report: "While most drivers passed, 96 required eyesight-related advice, and 50 drivers failed outright. Of these, 50% avoided a driving ban only because they had corrective glasses available to pass a second attempt."
 
Rob Heard, founder of the Older Drivers Forum, added: "This report underlines the need for regular sight tests to ensure driving safety and detect medical conditions that could impact vision." 

FODO CPD

FODO is working with Perceptive to deliver targeted CPD that focuses on reducing risk in practice. Access the first in this series - Pathology in Practice: Case Studies.

We have also partnered with Optom Academy to produce a video on how to get 50% of your GOC-required CPD points from self-directed CPD.

Shamina Asif BSc, Optom Academy founder, said: "We encourage all colleagues to embrace self-directed CPD. It allows you to earn up to 18 of the 36 required CPD points - enabling you to tailor your learning and development to your specific goals. 

"Once you start exploring self-directed CPD and logging your activities with the GOC, you'll likely wish you had started sooner (just as we did)!

"The more you do, the quicker you will become at uploading the points. Watch our video to see different examples of self-directed CPD; you will be surprised at how many activities you are doing qualify for self-directed CPD."

Both resources above are open source, so please forward them. 

FODO news is changing in 2025

We get regular and positive feedback about our member newsletters, and increasingly, non-members have heard about this and asked to be added to the list.

Members have also asked FODO to expand its comms reach, including making more of the sector aware of what all sector bodies do so more people get an accurate picture of what is happening in the health policy space.

We're responding to all the feedback and detailed discussions with members by making changes in 2025. They include shifting to a member-only newsletter and launching a new product for the wider sector, which will cover eye care and audiology across the UK and Ireland. If you would like to get involved and help shape our future comms work, please email us at [email protected]. 

FODO opening hours over the festive period

Please note our operating hours for the Christmas and New Year period are:

• 25-26 December: Closed
• 27 December: Closed - out-of-hours support available to members
• 30-31 December: Closed - out-of-hours support available to members
• 1 January: Closed

Members who need support outside hours should email [email protected]. We will get back to you within 48 hours. If you email, we will also provide a contact number should you have an urgent matter that needs a same-day response.

FODO news will also take a short break. 20 December will be the last newsletter for 2024, and we will return on 10 January. As always, if any urgent matter arises, we will send an update as soon as possible. 

GOC updates

• GOC has announced that it will increase registrant fees by £10 (2.5%), making the full registrant fee £415
• The GOC has responded to the NHS 10 Year Health Plan consultation
• The GOC Council, subject to minor changes, approved the organisation's EDI strategy for 2025-30
• Council also approved updated policies for complaints and feedback and acceptable behaviour when communicating with the GOC
• GOC has published its annual report, showing it now regulates 17,698 optometrists (up from 16,267 in 2020/21) and 6,594 dispensing opticians. It's available here.

NHS England - October performance statistics

Ophthalmology accounted for 593,767 of the 7.5 million pathways where the patient was waiting to start treatment at the end of October 2024. However, ophthalmology continues to show signs of recovery relative to other specialities. For example, 66% of pathways are seen within 18 weeks, compared to 48% in ENT. 

Members providing both primary eye care and primary care audiology will notice this daily, with the worsening crisis in ENT now overtaking system pressures in ophthalmology.

If you have stories about the impact these waits have on your patients, please email us at [email protected]. 

At a glance

• Health minister visits Belfast Trust's innovative ophthalmology service. Read more
• Hakim Group wins Healthcare Business of the Year. Read more
• Specsavers reflects on NHS 10 Year Plan. Read more
• Royal College of Ophthalmologists policy roundup: November and December 2024. Read more
• RAND study shows that eye examinations in the military population are cost-effective.
• The new Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology are on track to open in 2027 as developers announce construction milestone. Read more
• RNIB reflects on 2024
• As reported last week in FODO news, OFNC is working with wider primary care and calling for the government to deliver on its commitment to transform the NHS. This week, the AOP CEO has blogged about the importance of working together to make change happen
• NHS England has invited everybody working in primary eye care, in clinical and non-clinical roles, to share any final reflections of what they wish to see in a new EDI Improvement Plan. Fill out the survey to offer ideas and thoughts on what could be included. The survey closes on 3 January.

Health policy

• DHSC and NHS England announced a review of the NHS workforce plan, to be published after the 10 Year Health Plan next summer and revised every two years. They note the plan needs to be rethought given the government's aim to shift from hospital to community, pointing out how the original workforce plan would have increased hospital consultants by 49%, but the equivalent rise in fully qualified GPs would have been just 4% between 2021 to 2022 and 2036 to 2037.
• The Royal College of Physicians has published a guide on modernising outpatient care. The guide includes nine principles for efficient and effective outpatient care. It includes promoting safe and effective delegation and rethinking the concept of follow-up care into diagnostic and treatment phases and, in some cases, a support phase.
• Welsh Government will increase NHS spending by £600m, reports BBC
• Nesbitt launches major three-year plan for health and social care in Northern Ireland. FODO will work with ONI colleagues to discuss the latest plan and next steps.
• The Department of Health in Northern Ireland is consulting on a new Being Open Framework. The framework aims to clarify that candour is essential in the health system when things go wrong. The consultation closes on 21 March 2025. FODO's policy team will review this consultation and work with colleagues at ONI and other sector bodies on a response.
• HM Treasury has launched phase two of its  Spending Review. It states that phase two will "prioritise delivering the government's missions. As part of this, departments will be expected to make better use of technology and seek to reform public services, to support delivery of the government's plans for a decade of national renewal."  FODO will work with sector partners to consider potential implications for primary eye care and respond on members' behalf. To contribute to this work, please email [email protected]
• The NHS Mandate for 2025/26 is expected soon, followed by NHS Operational Planning Guidance 2025/2026. We will keep members updated with developments.