FODO member update – 25 September
This week:
- Millions do not have routine sight checks
- OS marks two decades of NHS-funded eye tests
- Story of eyelid surgery that went wrong
- GOC signs up to AI safeguarding statement and reports on whistleblowing
- At a glance
- Health policy news
Millions do not have routine sight checks
This National Eye Health Week (NEHW), research from Eye Health UK estimates that 14.5 million people in Britain are not having routine sight tests, with respondents showing cost concerns and limited awareness of NHS entitlements.
The charity encourages people to use their high-street optical practices as the first point of contact for concerns about their eye health, advising that optometrists can direct people to get the help they need for a wide range of illnesses. Read more in Clarity.
FODO is an official supporter of NEHW which runs until Sunday. You still have time to download NEHW materials here.
OS marks two decades of NHS-funded eye tests
This year marks 20 years since Scotland introduced universal GOS NHS-funded eye examinations. Reflecting on the past two decades, Optometry Scotland founding member Frank Munro said more than 80% of eye emergencies were now managed entirely within community optometry and described the past 20 years as evidence that optometry-led eye care works.
Alison Thewliss MSP, Scotland’s minister for community care, whose responsibilities include community optometry, said on her social media account that optometrists had carried out 2.54 million eye examinations in Scotland over the past year. She reiterated that the Scottish Government has promised to invest £144 million in community eye care this year.
Story of eyelid surgery that went wrong
Oculoplastic surgeons have reported a rising number of patients reporting complications from cheap ‘bleph’ (blepharoplasty) surgery, which lifts and smooths the skin around the eyes.
Demand for the procedure, which is typically performed overseas, has risen with a wider demand for cosmetic surgery. The most common complications are pain and people not being able to close their eyes properly because too much skin has been removed, the BBC reports.
GOC signs up to AI safeguarding statement and reports on whistleblowing
The GOC has signed a joint statement committing health and social care regulators to work together on their approach to artificial intelligence regulation. The Professional Standards Authority (PSA), 10 professional regulators and the Accredited Registers Collaborative have agreed to develop shared high-level principles for the “safe, effective and ethical use of artificial intelligence” by health and social care professionals across the UK.
Leonie Milliner, the GOC’s chief executive and registrar, said the GOC looked forward to “collaborating with others to create a consistent approach that supports professionals to use AI responsibly, and in ways that help to maintain public confidence and deliver benefits for patients”.
The aim is to provide greater consistency across professional regulation, while protecting patients and the public and supporting responsible innovation.
Read the PSA announcement.
The General Optical Council (GOC) has also joined other health and social care regulators to publish an annual report on whistleblowing disclosures. In the year to March 2026, there were 23 whistleblowing disclosures raised with the GOC, 11 of which resulted in regulatory action.
At a glance
- Boots Opticians has launched a campaign urging older drivers to help maintain their independence by making eye check-ups a priority. Read more in Clarity.
- Specsavers has partnered with parkrun to encourage those with accessibility needs to join. Read more in Clarity.
- The medtech company Cascader, a spinout from a Moorfields and UCL research collaboration, has secured seed funding led by Topcon Healthcare to advance AI for eye care. Read more.
- British start-up Siloton has announced a collaboration with Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health to develop a novel OCT platform to monitor children’s eyes. Read more.
- Ray-Ban has introduced its Meta Audio glasses, the first audio-only artificial intelligence glasses. Read more.
- Tickets are available for the Scottish Optical Conference on 14-15 November at Glasgow’s Radisson Blu hotel.
- BCLA is running a webinar on the physiological and optical mechanisms underlying presbyopes at 7pm on 13 October. Find out more.
- EAOO is running a free online webinar, Learning from real-world myopia management, at 6.30pm CET. Register here.
Health policy news
Productivity report calls for shift out of hospital
A new productivity report from the Health Foundation, Breaking the cycle: how to build a more productive NHS, says that too much care is organised around hospital-based services rather than primary care and prevention.
The Health Foundation argues that solving NHS inefficiencies requires long-term, system-wide reform that enables staff and services to provide better care, rather than relying on short-term savings or isolated efficiency initiatives.
The report says: “Productivity depends not only on running services better but [also] on shifting resources and redesigning care. Primary, community and preventive care can offer better value for some patients and pathways, yet NHS resources remain concentrated in hospitals.”
It adds: “Other opportunities we heard include reducing low-value tests and expanding community services, for example, within eye care.”
Liberal Democrats’ vision for primary healthcare
The Liberal Democrat conference earlier this week endorsed a “patient-centred, preventive primary care system that sits at the heart of a transformed NHS”. Helen Maguire, the primary care spokesperson who moved the motion, noted that only 26% of people were satisfied with the NHS, with most expecting it to get worse in the next five years.
The paper proposes that “high street providers to deliver eye and ear care closer to home, including glaucoma monitoring, cataract pathways, urgent minor eye care, hearing aid fittings and minor ear infection treatment, reducing unnecessary GP and hospital appointments and helping people stay independent for longer”.
Neighbourhood health lead to step down
The Health Service Journal has reported that Clair Fuller, a GP who leads the 10 Year Health Plan’s neighbourhood health policy for NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care, has resigned and will leave the NHS at the end of next month.
Dr Fuller was a key figure in policy development for primary care, clinical, quality, and safety work at NHS England. She was also behind the 2022 ‘Fuller stocktake’, which recommended the rollout of integrated neighbourhood teams.