13 June 2025

FODO member update – 13 June

This week:

• Royal College welcomes new AMD guidance
• Spending Review promises more NHS spending
• NHS waiting lists hit two-year low
• Moorfields publishes research into patient choice in eye care
• Scotland - PVG guidance update
• At a glance
• Policy news

Royal College welcomes new AMD guidance

The Royal College of Ophthalmologists has welcomed new guidance on wet AMD based on NICE guidance and clinical consensus, supported by a published clinical trial and real-world NHS data.

The college said that new NHS England guidance "aims to optimise treatment while expanding the use of more cost-effective medicines within the NHS". It encourages NHS commissioners to use this locally.

NHS Futures* hosts the pathway and associated calculator led by Louisa Wickham, national clinical director for eye care at NHS England and medical director at Moorfields, and Luke Nicholson, director of the medical retinal service at Moorfields, with input from an expert working group of clinicians, commissioners, pharmacists, patients, and service managers across England.

*You can access the latest version via NHS Futures (if you do not have access but would like a copy, please email [email protected]). 

Spending Review promises more NHS spending

The Spending Review (SR) has committed to 'fix the NHS'. However, despite the increase in spending, the NHS is expected to remain under pressure, with the Department of Health and Social Care still having to make significant efficiency savings.
 
While the sector awaits the 10-year plan to understand the detail, the SR and other news indicate the much-awaited NHS plan will focus on structural change and delivering the Prime Minister's mission to reduce hospital waiting times and improve access to GPs and dentists. Read more @Clarity. 

NHS waiting lists hit two-year low

The NHS waiting list has fallen to its lowest level in two years, the first reduction since 2008, according to NHS England.

As stated in the latest waiting list data, 7.39 million people are waiting, down from 7.42 million in April.

Wes Streeting, health and social care secretary, said: "We are putting the NHS on the road to recovery after years of soaring waiting times by providing record investment and fundamental NHS reform." He thanked hard-working NHS staff and said this was the first time the waiting list had fallen in 17 years. He added that the list had dropped "by almost a quarter of a million since we took office".

The latest RTT data shows a solid performance from ophthalmology, which now sees 68.8% of patients within the 18-week target, with a total of 588,990 incomplete pathways. 

Moorfields publishes research into patient choice in eye care

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which also operates Moorfields Private Eye Hospital, has worked with Ipsos and Policy Partners to publish 'Patient Choice in Elective Eye Care'.  The new publication used focus groups in London to discuss factors important to patients when exercising their right to patient choice as in the NHS Constitution. Read more @Clarity. 

Scotland - PVG guidance update

Following our 23 May update,  all optical bodies have continued to engage positively with Disclosure Scotland to help the profession transition seamlessly and proportionately to the new PVG requirements for optical practices and clinicians. You can now access additional guidance with advice for employers, locums and CLOs/DOs. Read more. 

At a glance

• BBC reports on acanthamoeba keratitis linked to swimming in contact lenses, with the College of Optometrists raising awareness about the risk on local BBC radio
• Moorfields reports on its 'digital cataract service', stating it is better and quicker for patients
• EMA approves Ryjunea for slowing myopia's progression in children aged 3 to 14 years. Read more
• Nominate somebody for the Optometry Wales Awards. Learn more
• World Congress of Optometry (WCO5) Conference - 25-28 June
• Fear might put some patients off cataract surgery, reports The Ophthalmologist
• The Roche-funded lobbying group The Eyes Have It, of which the AOP is a member, reports on its latest Westminster event
• ABDO shares recommendations and conclusions of TFOS DEWS II regarding the sub-classification, diagnostic methodology, and management and therapy of dry eye disease
• The College of Optometrists calls for local NHS emergency care plans to include urgent eye care services.

Policy news

• NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey reconfirms commitment to shift care to the community and to tackle the challenges of long waiting lists and poor patient satisfaction. Read more @Clarity
• Stephen Kinnock has reconfirmed his government's commitment to supporting the optometry workforce by stating: "NHS England provides an annual grant for supervisors of optometry trainees. This payment is an essential element of ensuring adequate training provision is available for new optometrists."
• Vertical integration reframed as Wes Streeting suggests that hospitals could run GP surgeries under NHS reforms. Read more.