Six solutions to save the NHS £1 billion outlined by Royal National Institute of Blind People

Six solutions that could save the NHS over £1 billion over the next decade have been outlined by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).

Providing all primary eye care providers with an NHS email address would improve communication with secondary care and could save £20 million annually, the charity said.

The RNIB’s second suggestion is to ensure that all primary eye care providers have access to advice and guidance from secondary care.

This would reduce unnecessary referrals, the charity emphasised.

Streamlining referrals by creating single points of access would save the NHS £171 million, RNIB said, whilst fully embedding the charity’s Eye Care Support Pathway would see an annual saving of £3.99 million.

If the skillset of optometrists currently working in primary care in England was fully utilised, NHS savings could be as high as £77.2 million, RNIB said.

Up to £80.7 million could be saved if planning for ‘do not attend’ or missed appointments was incorporated into planning guidance, depending on the chosen approach, the charity added.

Aside from saving money, the recommendations would lower the number of unnecessary referrals, cut waiting times for eye care, and ensure better support for anyone undergoing a potentially devasting sight loss diagnosis, RNIB said.

Patient outcomes would be improved and pressure on hospitals and GPs surgeries would also be reduced, RNIB believes.

The findings were published in the report The Value of Vision: Six Interventions to Improve Eye Care, and are fully costed and underpinned by existing examples of best practice from across the UK.

“Incredibly simple” solutions

Matt Stringer, chief executive of the RNIB, emphasised that eye care has one of the biggest waiting lists of any specialty in England.

Those waiting for eye care currently make up around 8% of the entire NHS waiting list, Stringer noted.

He said: “Our report is aimed at supporting the NHS costed proposals that would at once alleviate cost and pressures in the system – and put patients first.

“We believe these simple solutions would help the NHS to tackle financial and operational pressures – and, at a very human level, reduce the substantial number of people being referred to hospital with a concern they have a serious eye condition when a local optician could rule this out instead.”

The recommendations come ahead of the publication of the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, which is expected to be released in the coming weeks.

The AOP has welcomed the RNIB’s suggestions, calling the report a ‘timely reminder’ that the Government needs to act on eye health.

AOP chief executive, Adam Sampson said: “The RNIB’s report is yet more evidence of what is plain to see: utilising the specialist skills of optometrists on the High Street to deliver eye care services is the right solution for the NHS and for the public.

“The recommendations set out in this report are a timely reminder of the unique opportunity for the Government. Our sector is ready to take the simple, practical steps that can significantly improve NHS efficiency, deliver impactful cost savings, and most importantly, provide life-changing healthcare for patients who need eye care.

“It is interesting to see RNIB’s direction of travel around single points of access – and we are pleased that the Community Ophthalmic Link in Gloucestershire is used as a best practice example for streamlining referrals.”

Community Ophthalmic Link is an integrated care board-commissioned software that has allowed for digital image sharing between primary and secondary care in Gloucestershire since 2022.

It was highlighted in the report as an example of best practice that should be replicated elsewhere.

Sampson noted that the AOP’s own co-commissioned PA Consulting report, along with recent reports from Healthwatch that emphasised the importance of utilising optometry to cut NHS waiting times and noted that more support in accessing eye care should be given to patients, confirm that “optometrists are already delivering excellent services and are well-positioned to do more.”

The UK’s 7000 High Street optical practices can “play a key role in reducing hospital backlogs and improving patient outcomes,” Sampson said.

However, he emphasised that “this shift depends on a properly resourced primary care system.”

“It’s essential that community optometry, alongside pharmacy, dentistry and general practice, is fully integrated into the Government’s 10-Year Plan for Health – to cut hospital waits and ensure high quality, timely and local access to expert care,” Sampson added.

Stringer said: “We hear from people how distressing this is, which is why we as RNIB are also keen to embed our support all along the patient pathway.

“Technology is already being used in the health system with virtual wards, image analysis and remote consultations. The solutions we are advocating for are tried and tested, and in many cases – like email addresses – seemingly incredibly simple for the positive effect they could have.

“These proposals represent practical changes that can be implemented relatively quickly and simply. Doing this now would make a positive impact on patients’ eye health. Some will be more straightforward to implement, but action needs to be taken now.”

The RNIB is urging the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and integrated care boards to adopt these interventions “as part of a roadmap to make eye health fit for the future,”Stringer said.