Labour Party Conference: AOP fringe event on expanding community led healthcare and tackling pressures on emergency departments

At this year’s Labour Party Conference, we will bring together senior health leaders, policymakers and clinicians for a fringe event on Monday 28 September. The session, Health outside the hospital: why providing more community led healthcare in every postcode is the path to revitalise the NHS and cut waiting times, will explore how neighbourhood services can support Labour’s ambitions for an accessible healthcare system.

With emergency departments across England facing record demand and widespread corridor care, the discussion will highlight the role of optometry in relieving pressure on overstretched hospitals.

The fringe event will feature a panel representing emergency medicine, public health leadership, local government and community care:

• Adam Sampson, Chief Executive, Association of Optometrists
• Dame Diana Johnson DBE MP, Minister for Public Health and Patient Safety
• Dr Ian Higginson, President, Royal College of Emergency Medicine
• Cllr Dr Shabina Qayyum, Leader of Peterborough City Council
• Krupesh Hirani AM, London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow (Chair).

Together, they will examine how better resourced community pathways – including primary care, can reduce avoidable hospital attendances, support earlier diagnosis and improve the patient experience. The discussion will also address the commissioning gaps that leave some regions without primary eye care services, despite clear evidence of system benefits.

Recent analysis by the AOP shows that almost 780,000 A&E attendances each year relate to eye problems – placing eye conditions among the top reasons people seek emergency care. Yet evidence demonstrates that up to four in five of these cases could be safely managed by community optometrists, who are trained to diagnose and treat a wide range of urgent eye conditions. 

The event will spotlight how existing commissioned services in parts of England already demonstrate the impact.

The fringe event forms part of the AOP’s Eye care everywhere campaign, which calls for a national approach to commissioning enhanced eye care services to ensure consistent access in every postcode across England.

As a politically neutral organisation, the AOP will be attending all five autumn party conferences. We would welcome hearing from members who plan to attend any of the conferences this year. Please contact the communications team at [email protected]