FODO member update – 16 October
This week:
- New CRM log in
- Education technology harms children’s eyesight
- Canadian Weston family to buy Boots
- University eyecare hub opens
- NHS Wales eyecare stats
- NHS voucher claims go digital in Scotland
- Dry eye drops – do they work?
- At a glance
- Health policy news
New CRM log in
Thank you to all members that have already logged into the CRM and completed your renewal forms.
Apologies to members that have some problems resetting their password, this software glitch has now been addressed.
We will be shortly resending instructions on how to log-in to all members. If you have already taken action you can ignore that email.
Education technology harms children’s eyesight
Media outlets, including the BBC, reported this week that a group of clinicians, including ophthalmologists and audiologists, warned of a steep rise in children presenting with vision and communication concerns. The group linked the increase to the time children spend on screens and the use of educational technologies (EdTech) in school, using online platforms designed to support learning.
In a letter to the education secretary, Lucy Powell, and copied to health secretary Yvette Cooper, the campaign group Health Professionals for Safer Screens says that nearly a million children are on screens during every lesson at school, more than the daily screen-time recommendation. The group describes the absence of any child-focused health scrutiny of education technology as a serious concern.
Read more in Clarity.
Canadian Weston family to buy Boots
The Canadian Weston family has entered a deal worth about £6.7 billion to buy Boots. This will include Boots’ UK and Ireland retail operations, Boots Opticians and No7 Beauty Company, as well as its Thailand and franchised businesses.
Wittington Investments, the holding company, controls George Weston Limited, through which it has interests including Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada’s largest pharmacy and health and beauty business.
Read more in Clarity.
University eyecare hub opens
A new facility offering free eye care to the local community has opened at the University of Plymouth campus. The £7.7 million Centre for Eyecare Excellence has 34 treatment rooms, where optometry students can carry out supervised treatment. Read more.
NHS Wales eyecare stats
The Welsh Government’s annual eyecare statistics report, which covers the 2025/26 financial year, shows that expanded primary care services delivered more routine and urgent NHS-funded eye examinations and low vision assessments than ever before. While demand on hospital eye services remained high, with record levels of appointments provided, the latest Welsh Government data notes that official statistics for “referral filtering and independent prescribing showed more patients were treated within optometry practices without needing referrals to hospitals or general practices” – indicating that without GOS reforms, the pressure on the hospital eye service would be worse.
Key points:
- Clinicians provided more than 910,000 NHS-funded eye examinations (WGOS 1), an annual increase of 5.1% and the highest on record
- Urgent/follow-up care (WGOS 2) increased by 13.9% with 319,000 episodes of care
- There were 14,900 referral filtering (WGOS 4) visits, with 57% of patients not requiring referral
- More than 43,000 independent prescribing (WGOS 5) appointments were delivered, with 95.3% not resulting in a referral.
NHS voucher claims go digital in Scotland
Optometry Scotland has shared a notification from NSS PSD Ophthalmic stating that all practices must now submit all HES(S)3 voucher claims electronically through the eOphthalmic payments system. Any paper forms will be returned for resubmission. Read more.
You can find guidance covering HES(S)3 electronic submission on pages 39 to 43 here.
Dry eye drops – do they work?
This week, the BBC heard from consultant corneal and cataract surgeon Bita Manzouri and research optometrist at Aston University Dr Sònia Travé Huarte about which dry eye drops work. Listen again here – BBC Radio 4’s Sliced Bread delves into the world of eye drops. Do they work – and is one brand better than another?
At a glance
- ABDO pays tribute to dispensing optician David Bridle, who has died following a long illness. Read more.
- New Crisis and Specsavers report reveals how poor sight and hearing create additional barriers for people experiencing homelessness. Read more.
- Westminster Eye Health Day returns on 27 October, giving MPs and policymakers a chance to hear patients’ eye care experiences, the Macular Society reports.
- Optician has revealed its shortlist for the 2026 Optician Awards. Find out more.
- ABDO has launched a public awareness campaign highlighting the risks associated with decorative contact lenses.
- Birmingham Optical and Eyoto have formed a partnership to distribute and AI-enabled automated slit lamp technology. Read more.
- Moorfields has published guidance on potential eye health risks and benefits associated with GLP-1 weight-loss medicines such as Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro.
- Optometry Scotland sets out its latest position on Scotland’s proposed Foundation Training Year, calling for greater clarity on arrangements for practices. Read more.
Health policy news
Conference round-up
FODO has attended the main political party conferences this year, helping to keep eye care part of the health policy conversation. The SNP conference concludes the season tomorrow, with Michael Guthrie, FODO’s group director of policy and regulation, attending.
Where healthcare was discussed, the parties broadly agreed that prevention, AI and delivering more care locally were crucial to improving the NHS for patients.
The Liberal Democrats set out most clearly how they would use existing high-street providers, while the other parties offered little detail about who would deliver expanded community services.
Read a more detailed round-up in Clarity.
Many patients feel lost in NHS ‘maze’
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) says patients are struggling to navigate a “maze” of referrals, appointments and follow-ups, with 86% saying they have been unsure who to contact about their NHS care.
Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown, RCGP president, said: “Patients should not be expected to navigate a complex NHS on their own, and general practice should not become the default place to chase appointments, referrals, test results or information held elsewhere in the health service.” Read more.
NHSE publishes guidance on SPoA
NHS England has published technical guidance on Elective Single Point of Access for planned care, allowing specialists to review referrals and direct them to the right service, simplifying the referral process.
The notice says that, initially, under the national e-Referral Service, Advice and Guidance requests and referrals from general practice will be routed through the elective Single Point of Access within e-RS. Advice and Guidance requests and referrals from other primary care services will be incorporated progressively as the e-RS platform is expanded to support them, it says.
On patient choice, the guidance makes clear that optometrists should offer a patient choice, but when a system-wide SPoA is in place, the SPoA might offer this choice. An extract of the patient choice guidance is included below for ease of reference:
- “Right to Choose: patient choice.
Patients must continue to be offered choice of provider and team at the appropriate point in the pathway when they can make an informed choice. Where the model being used is a provider-level Single Point of Access, patients should be offered choice of provider or team at the point of referral from primary care, including GP, dentist or optometrist. Where the model being used is a group Single Point of Access, such as multi-provider, system or regional level, patients should be offered choice of provider or team at the point of referral by the GP, dentist or optometrist, or by the group Single Point of Access, as appropriate. Patients should be appropriately informed about which model is being used, so they know when they will need to select their provider. Some elements will continue to be worked through with general practice colleagues as delivery arrangements are refined.”
Members can also read our patient choice guidance here.
FODO continues to work with sector partners through the OFNC and to follow all developments that might impact GOS time/cost, either directly or indirectly, and we will keep members informed of any changes that may affect them.