10 January 2025

Statement on Special Schools Eyecare Service fee

OFNC have consistently voiced our concerns on the revised proposal to NHS England on many occasions, however we feel those concerns have not been heeded.

NHS England have told us that they consider this to be a service that is similar to the traditional domiciliary sight testing service, a service most frequently associated with elderly people. While we agree there are certain parallels, mobile equipment, a different working environment and a need to be adaptable to provide good quality care, there are also important differences. The most important of which is that, at inception, this service was meant to provide ongoing care for a cohort of patients with unique challenges. At the inception of the special schools eyecare service, there was a recognition that to provide the best possible level of care, things had to be done differently to a standard sight test, that practitioners may need to visit these patients on multiple occasions to build a rapport and gain their trust so that a successful examination could be undertaken.

The newly proposed fee for this service is insufficient to provide the unique, ongoing care that is required; instead, the proposed fee will only allow for a simple, single visit type examination. We fear this will mean that either a huge unfunded burden will be placed on those delivering the service, making it unsustainable, or the service as delivered will not match that which was intended and evaluated during the proof of concept. We urge NHS England to reconsider the fee for this important service as a matter of urgency.

ENDS

Note for Editors
The Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee (OFNC) is the national negotiating body for eye care in England with the Westminster Parliament, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England. It comprises the leaders of the UK representative bodies: ABDO, AOP, FODO and BMA (for OMPs) and works in partnerships with the College of Optometrists and the General Optical Council.