FODO member update – 22 May
This week:
- Bank holiday opening hours
- Optical sector responds to glaucoma guidance
- Health department updates vision profile
- Webinar on unfair dismissal changes
- Teesside University seeks views on children’s eye care
- Blind correspondent tells his life story
- At a glance
- Health policy news
FODO’s office will be closed for the spring bank holiday on 25 May. We will reopen at 9am on 26 May. Members can access out-of-hours support on Monday by emailing [email protected].
Optical sector responds to glaucoma guidance
NHS Getting It Right First Time has released new guidance on best practice for managing glaucoma. It recognises the importance of enhanced optometry services in detecting the disease early, reducing referrals to secondary care and offering follow-up care in the community.
FODO has published a joint response with primary eye care colleagues, stating that the guidance would mark “an important step forward” if it’s implemented properly and with adequate funding.
Read the sector response and a report on the NHS announcement in Clarity.
Health department updates vision profile
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has updated the vision section of its interactive public health data tool. The updates include indicators for outpatient attendances, cataract surgery, retinal detachment and intravitreal injection therapy up to the financial year-end 2025.
The data shows that between 2015 and 2025, ophthalmology outpatient appointments increased by 26% to 10,652,850. The number of patients attending ophthalmology increased by 23% to 3,860,910 over the same period. This is driven by people with long-term conditions, such as glaucoma, who currently have to visit the hospital eye service several times per year for follow-up care. It is hoped recently published GIRFT guidance (see above) will help reduce the number of outpatient visits over time.
More granular data shows that in 2024/25, more than 932,000 visits were for intravitreal injections, more than 13,600 adults had rhegmatogenous retinal detachment surgery, and 608,133 cataract operations were performed.
Harjit Sandhu, FODO CEO, said: “While sector news often focuses on ophthalmology having one of the highest outpatient attendances, the real story is that most hospital activity is for repeat visits and tests, much of which could be delivered safely out of hospital and closer to home. We now also know that 24,819 people were registered with a preventable sight loss in a single year. That is almost 500 people a week known to be suffering from avoidable sight loss.
“The 10 Year Plan has committed to shifting care out of hospital and to focus more on prevention. This latest OHID publication highlights how much further the NHS in England urgently needs to go. FODO, with all sector partners, will continue to make the case for investing more in primary eye care services to tackle preventable sight loss and reduce the unsustainable rate of growth in the hospital eye care service.”
Webinar on unfair dismissal changes
From 1 January 2027, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal will shrink from two years to six months. This means that new employees starting on 1 July 2026 will reach six months’ service by the time the law changes.
WorkNest employment law and HR experts invite FODO members to attend an online webinar, ‘Preparing for unfair dismissal reform’, on 4 June at 2pm. Register here.
Teesside University seeks views on children’s eye care
Researchers at Teesside University invite optometrists and practice owners to take part in a one-to-one interview via Teams to explore the challenges in delivering eye examinations for young children. It should last no longer than an hour. No specialist paediatric experience is required.
Blind correspondent tells his life story
The correspondent Gary O’Donoghue is guest this week on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. Brought up in London, he lost his sight aged eight but went on to become the BBC’s chief North America correspondent and won the Royal Television Society Breaking News Award for his coverage of the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump.
- ABDO has appointed Deborah Bill as its vice president, succeeding Brenda Rennie. Read more.
- ABDO celebrated the graduation of DOs and CLOs at a ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral. Read more.
- The College of Optometrists is recruiting volunteers to participate in clinical training workshops at its Optometry Tomorrow conference in Harrogate on 14 and 15 June.
- Hoya Vision Care UK has entered into a fundraising partnership with Alder Hey Children’s Charity, which supports the Liverpool hospital. Find out more.
- RNIB seeks people living with an eye care condition to take part in a diary study about support services for people with vision impairment. Email [email protected].
- Myopia Focus has launched a Tool Creator for optometry practices to demonstrate myopia’s impact to parents and patients.
- Contact lens manufacturer CooperVision has recruited more than 3,000 children for multi-year studies to collect long-term data on myopia control in the US and China. Read more.
- Specsavers has started a £7 million expansion of its Vision Labs site in Kidderminster, which aims to increase lens production by 22%, The Manufacturer reports.
- Moorfields Eye Charity hosted an evening of presentations for the Foresight Circle, a group of philanthropists supporting digital transformation in vision care. Read more.
New health secretary replaces Streeting
The government has appointed James Murray as secretary of state for health, following Wes Streeting’s resignation. The Guardian described him as “one of the least divisive figures in government”.
Michael Guthrie, FODO director of policy and regulation, said: “We welcome the appointment of the new secretary of state. We look forward to working with him, his ministerial team and officials to protect and expand patient access to high-quality primary eye care.”
‘Catastrophic’ gaps in tech regulation plans
Proposed amendments to UK medical device regulations could create one of the lowest barriers to entry for high-risk AI devices.
Under the draft rules, certain AI devices could be placed in low-risk categories, allowing some manufacturers to certify their own safety. The Health Service Journal reported that this is raising concerns about ‘catastrophic’ gaps in regulation.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has published draft pre-market regulatory requirements for medical devices and in vitro diagnostic devices entering the market.
FODO’s policy team is reviewing the MHRA consultation on members’ behalf. If you have any comments, please email them to [email protected] by 10 June.