Read the latest RCOphth news updates and guidance here.
Following the welcome announcement in June 2023 that sight testing will be expanded to all special schools in England from 2024, NHS England is now consulting on the future design of this rollout.
College President Ben Burton last week presented diplomas to more than 150 new Fellows at this year’s Admissions Ceremony.
Girish Chandra came from modest beginnings in India to further his ophthalmic career in the UK in the 1960’s. He subsequently worked in numerous countries in North America and Asia. He recognises that the chance to train in the UK is a valuable and cherished opportunity, and he hopes that this award will facilitate this for future ophthalmologists.
We have provided evidence to the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC), which is responding to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry on behalf of all members. RCOphth Policy Advisor David Murray summarises the key points from our response, which recommends four actions to ensure UK ophthalmology services are resilient and able to deliver sufficient patient care and training opportunities during and after the acute stage of a future pandemic.
The General Medical Council (GMC) has this week published an update on Good medical practice, which details the principles, values and standards expected of doctors working in the UK.
The Royal College of Ophthalmologists has written to Health Minister Will Quince MP to express our support for the extension of independent prescribing responsibilities to orthoptists. The British and Irish Orthoptic Society has previously advocated for these responsibilities, including in a letter to the Secretary of State.
The Government’s Elective Recovery Taskforce has announced several actions aimed at increasing capacity in England in its implementation plan, especially through expanded independent sector involvement in the delivery of NHS services. While the measures, analysed in this article, represent an important acknowledgement of the need to urgently expand capacity and aspects of the plan can help ophthalmology if implemented effectively, to make a real difference policymakers must prioritise properly investing in NHS services and its workforce and infrastructure.
Cataract surgery remains the most frequently performed surgical procedure in the UK with almost half a million operations a year, results from our latest National Ophthalmology Database (NOD) Audit show.
We are launching a one-year pilot of physician associates (PAs) within ophthalmology, starting in November 2023. Physician associates are growing in number in the NHS, and the RCOphth and NHS England are keen to explore how the PA role may fit into the ophthalmological workforce.
Congratulations to Dr Giovanni Montesano, winner of the 2023 Glaucoma UK/RCOphth Research Award. He will receive £96,082 to fund his project “A path to personalised glaucoma care – mapping clinical trial and real-world outcomes to individuals”.
