10-Year Health Plan must “drive more consistency” in eye care in England, Specsavers says

Specsavers has welcomed the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, emphasising that it must work to build consistency and address the postcode lottery for eye and hearing care that currently exists in England.

Giles Edmonds, Specsavers’ clinical services director, said: “Community optometry and audiology are already important components of neighbourhood health services, and clinicians in these fields have the desire and the capacity to contribute further to the plan’s goal of providing care closer to home.

“Currently patients face a ‘postcode lottery’ in accessing optometry and audiology services in the community. We hope the publication of the 10-Year Plan will drive more consistency across England so that primary care optometry and community audiology services can play their full role in improving access to care for all.”

Edmonds noted that “the 10-Year Plan’s focus on developing a neighbourhood health service is very welcome” and that Specsavers wants to “work with the Government and NHS commissioners to make that ambition a reality.”

The 10-Year Health Plan was published on Thursday 3 July. It lays out how the Government plans to enact its three shifts – analogue to digital, treatment to prevention, and hospital to community – in order to improve the health of the nation.

Specsavers “will continue to work with commissioners across England as well as the Government to deliver the big changes that could transform access to care and deliver on the Plan’s ambitions,” Edmonds said.

He noted that Specsavers’ key asks are nationally-consistent community glaucoma services, access to treatment for urgent, minor eye care injuries and illnesses through community optometry, and a nationally commissioned NHS primary care audiology service.

“We will review the plan in detail and continue to work with colleagues across our sectors, the NHS, and the Government to improve lives through better sight and hearing,” Edmonds said.

The AOP also welcomed the 10-Year Health Plan, with chief executive, Adam Sampson, emphasising his hope that through the plan “optometry may finally get the recognition and investment it deserves.”

The plan offers an opportunity for an “essential reset” of eye care in England, Sampson added.

Read the full AOP statement on the 10-Year Health Plan here.