Wales
Through the Welsh Eye Care Initiatives the Welsh Assembly Government has created a package of extended examinations and optometric services to improve patient access to eye care and relieve pressure on overloaded ophthalmic departments in hospitals. The schemes are acknowledged as popular and convenient for patients.
A notable success is PEARS – a Primary Eye care Acute Referral Service - which triages eye conditions. This works well for patients and GPs who do not have the equipment to examine eyes in the same way as an optical practice.
Additionally it refines referrals into secondary care, accurately prioritising them. PEARS allows patients to self-refer, or to be referred by their GP, to an optometrist for ocular problems such as red eye, flashes and floaters or sudden loss of vision or onset of ocular pain.
The Low Vision Scheme provides easy access for patients with low vision to experts in the community, again reducing long waiting times.
These innovative schemes, which sit alongside the GOS, have put optometry at the centre of eye care in Wales.
Scotland
A completely new GOS contract was announced in Scotland in April 2006, the biggest change in NHS eye care for 60 years. The traditional NHS ‘sight test’, primarily designed for those who require spectacles, was replaced by a comprehensive eye examination appropriate to a patient’s needs, symptoms and general health and which may not necessarily include a sight test for spectacles.
The new Scottish examination is free at point of use to all patients, whereas previously certain categories of patients were required to pay for the old sight test. The new system also recognises optometrists as the gateway to NHS eye care services and acknowledges the skills and equipment available in community practices.
As part of the introduction of the new eye examination, the Scottish Executive provided each practice with funding of £8,000 for the provision of equipment necessary to carry out the new examinations.
