FODO member update – 17 July
This week:
- GOC opens consultation on sight testing statement
- OFNC update on CPD grants
- Registrants urged to review CPD progress
- Report describes impact of ‘hidden waiting lists’
- NHS Scotland issues eye drops alert
- Optometrist spots malignant eye cancer
- At a glance
- Health policy news
GOC opens consultation on sight testing statement
The General Optical Council (GOC) has launched a 14-week consultation on proposed updates to its Statement on testing of sight. It is also consulting on proposals to make related changes to the supervision and delegation requirements in its Standards of Practice for Opticians and Standards for Optical Students.
As we said in a previous member update, our initial assessment is that the GOC’s proposals do not raise significant concerns, as they maintain the integrity of the sight test and the optometrist’s central role.
The consultation is an opportunity to provide our feedback to the GOC on the consultation proposals, including identifying areas that may need further refinement or clarification.
We welcome member feedback to inform our response. Members are asked to complete this form by 28 August.
Read more in Clarity.
The OFNC has published short update which explains why there will be delay in the CPD claims window opening. Read more.
Registrants urged to review CPD progress
The GOC is encouraging registrants to review their progress and take steps to remain on track to meet their general points requirement by the end of 2027. It also urged those who have not yet completed their mandatory personal development plan (PDP) to do so by the summer.
In June, when the 2025-27 CPD cycle reached its midpoint, 10,900 registrants (43%) had achieved at least half of their required general points. Four in five had completed the PDP, leaving 5,300 still to complete it.
Steve Brooker, the GOC’s director of regulatory strategy, said it was “better for registrants to undertake and log their CPD activities regularly throughout the cycle rather than face a last-minute rush to complete their requirements at the end of the cycle.”
Visit GOC’s CPD pages for resources and guidance.
Report describes impact of ‘hidden waiting lists’
Newmedica has published a report called Championing eye health: patient choice and preventing avoidable sight loss which it launched at a parliamentary event on Wednesday. which it launched at a parliamentary event on Wednesday.
The provider used the occasion to highlight that one in 12 patients awaiting first appointments for specialist treatment is waiting for ophthalmology. It also estimates that 11.4 million people are waiting for follow-up care, but these figures are ‘hidden’ because there is no requirement to report them.
It also called for the mandatory publication of ophthalmology waiting times by condition, including follow-up care, and the expansion of integrated pathways, supported by community-based optometrists.
Read more in Clarity.
NHS Scotland issues eye drops alert
NHS Scotland has published a Medicine Supply Alert Notice listing availability in response to a supply issue affecting Latanoprost and Timolol eye drops.
Optometrist spots malignant eye cancer
Jez Bridges, a 59-year-old father of four from Staffordshire, describes how a routine eye check-up led to the discovery that he had a uveal melanoma, the BBC reports.
Despite a positive initial prognosis, six months later Mr Bridges learned that his cancer was terminal. His sister is leading a fundraising campaign for chemosaturation therapy, which could extend his life but is not available on the NHS.
- Fill in The College of Optometrists’ annual member survey by 3 August for a chance to win £50 Amazon vouchers. Read more.
- Paul Bailey, chair of the independent optical laboratory Optimum RX Group for 15 years, has retired, after transferring the company to an Employee Ownership Trust. Read more.
- Scientists at Johns Hopkins University have made a discovery that challenges conventional explanations about cone cell differentiation. Find out more in Clarity.
- A Specsavers survey of perimenopausal and menopausal women has found a high incidence of an unexpected eye condition. Read more in Clarity.
- A Personal Independence Payment (PIP) review by Sir Stephen Timms, social security and disability minister, finds that the assessment process is stressful and frustrating for visually impaired people, RNIB reports.
- RNIB has appointed five new trustees to its board, bringing the total to 10, half of whom have lived experience of sight loss.
- Guide Dogs is conducting cross-sector research through a survey exploring the role of Vision Rehabilitation Assistants.
Writing for the NHS Alliance, Marsha de Cordova MP, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Eye Health and Vision Impairment, has called on national leaders to work in “genuine partnership” with local systems, “recognising the innovation already under way in eye care and creating the conditions for it to spread”.
She said: “Waiting lists remain high, demand continues to grow, and capacity is stretched. At the same time, there is a highly skilled workforce in the community – optometrists, orthoptists and others – ready and able to do much more.
“That means providing clear policy direction, aligning financial and commissioning models with patient pathways, investing in workforce development and ensuring the digital infrastructure is in place to connect services across organisational boundaries.”
Read more.
In Wales, the Senedd debated a motion highlighting the scale of the challenge facing patients and services. Ophthalmology waiting lists are long, with around one in eight patients in Wales waiting for an NHS appointment specifically for eyecare. Wales has 1.97 consultant ophthalmologists per 100,000 people, the lowest figure in the UK.
The motion calls on the Welsh Government to “consider creating an all-Wales health board specifically for ophthalmology, encompassing primary and secondary care in order to achieve the above goals”.
Providers claim some ICBs are resisting patient choice
The HSJ reports that Newmedica and Specsavers have named 10 ICBs that they say have decommissioned services, set minimum waits and capped referrals to private providers, leading to additional pressures on A&E, GPs and other services.
In evidence to the parliamentary committee considering the Health Bill, they separately point out that some ICBs have continued to commission enhanced community services. However, others have failed to embrace the government’s vision by moving services back into hospitals.
The ICBs told HSJ they aimed to balance “patient need, clinical safety, waiting times, value for money and the fair use of public resources”. Read more.