Read the latest RCOphth news updates and guidance here.
NHS Scotland is developing plans to support eye units to increase the number of cataracts performed per four-hour session. RCOphth is inputting into this work to ensure the most appropriate pathways are developed and clinicians and eye units receive the support they need. RCOphth Policy Manager Jordan Marshall explains the scope of the work and future timelines.
Following fears the Special School Eye Care Service would end in March 2023, it is welcome that following pressure the evaluation of the scheme has been extended to August 2023.
Following joint task and finish groups convened by The Royal College of Ophthalmologists and NHS England, guidance has been published on cataract commissioning, the referral and post-operative pathways, and training in independent sector providers.
The GMC has announced that it will make initial contact with doctors by phone if they need to investigate concerns. The change is part of a series of improvements by the GMC to take a more compassionate approach to reduce the impact of investigations and the anxiety for doctors.
Responding to the establishment of the Elective Recovery Taskforce and its focus on utilising independent sector capacity and community diagnostic centres to reduce backlogs, RCOphth stresses the need to preserve the sustainability of NHS ophthalmology services and find solutions to the long-term challenges facing the sector, particularly regarding the workforce.
Responding to the Public Accounts Committee inquiry on ‘Managing NHS backlogs & waiting times’, The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) has stressed the need for consistent national coordination and resourcing of proven eye care innovations alongside an upskilling of the workforce and implementation of integrated pathways, if long backlogs and waiting times for both diagnostic and surgical appointments are to be reduced.
While health was not the central focus amid a range of important announcements on tax and spending, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement contained a positive commitment on workforce planning. RCOphth Policy Manager Jordan Marshall analyses the implications for ophthalmology.
In a recent letter to Jonathan Devereux, NHS England’s Senior Programme Lead for optical commissioning, our President Professor Bernie Chang and chair of our Paediatric Sub-Committee Susmito Biswas outlined the College’s concerns over proposed changes to the SSECS. We have also raised our concerns with MPs in Parliament.
The General Medical Council has (GMC) published ‘The state of medical education and practice in the UK: the workforce report 2022.’ This highlights statistical trends and challenges facing the medical workforce, including specific data on the ophthalmology workforce. RCOphth Policy Manager Jordan Marshall and Policy Advisor David Murray summarise the key findings and what they mean for ophthalmology.
On 22 September, the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Dr Therese Coffey, set out the Government’s plan to improve patient experience of the NHS in England, outlining a range of measures relating to backlogs, workforce challenges, and digitisation of the NHS. RCOphth Policy Advisor David Murray summarises the key implications for NHS ophthalmology services.
