AOP publishes response to Government’s 10-Year Health Plan consultation

The AOP has published its full response to the consultation into the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan.

The association detailed a “growing need to transform eye care and eye health in England for patients” in its response. It also set out ways that such a transformation can be achieved.

Optometry sits alongside dentistry, pharmacy and general practice as one of the four core pillars of primary care, the AOP said.

The association noted that the role optometry plays in providing eye care on the High Street is “established and critical.”

Vital NHS capacity could be created if a percentage of hospital outpatient activity was moved into primary care optometry, the AOP said.

The association noted that the NHS must “embrace and invest in the key components that underpin a new way of working” if transformation is to be possible.

Adam Sampson, chief executive of the AOP, said: “Fundamental to any redress in our healthcare system will be the ability to seize on the readiness and clinical skills that already exist within the primary care workforce, moving away from a hospital-centric funding approach.

“This hinges on digital connectivity, hospital tariff reform, enhanced service contracting arrangements and Integrated Care Board (ICB) composition.

“If we can get these components right, eye care, delivered on the High Street, will help drive the NHS towards prevention and improved standards, and reduce inequality of access for patients.”

Sampson added: “We need to cut the shameful incidence of irreversible, avoidable sight loss that we currently see as a direct result of the NHS backlog and an inconsistent commissioning approach.”

The AOP noted 13 recommendations that would assist this change in its consultation response.

Recommendations include mandating a national system of digital connectivity and communication, in order to capitalise on the opportunities technology provides.

The NHS app should direct patients with eye-related queries to primary eye care by default, the AOP said.

A new role for primary eye care should be established, with patients only moving into secondary care when optometry “can do no more”, the association added.

Other recommendations include making it a statutory requirement that all of primary care is represented on ICBs, that fees paid for enhanced primary eye care services are self-sustaining and financially attractive to providers, and that a vision strategy for older people is included as a thread within the prevention agenda.

The NHS must also “recognise the critical need to rebalance the share of funding between primary and secondary care,” the AOP said, noting that without investment primary eye care “is being set up to fail.”

The AOP emphasised the importance of ensuring that the best examples of enhanced service provision are replicated throughout the country, to ensure that systems are not redesigned every time they are commissioned.

Utilising its recommendations would bring down waiting lists, take pressure off secondary care, and allow the NHS to move towards a prevention model, the AOP said – something that health secretary Wes Streeting has emphasised as a priority for his department.

The consultation on the 10-Year Health Plan was announced in October, with the AOP gathering responses from members in November.

The consultation, which will be used to inform a plan to overhaul the NHS, sought views from the public as well as from healthcare professionals. The full plan is expected to be published in the spring.

The consultation response in full can be read on the AOP website.

The AOP also contributed to two additional consultation submissions, one of which was made by Westminster eye health campaign group The Eyes Have It. The Eyes Have It’s submission can be read here.