05 December 2023
The Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee (OFNC) has confirmed that, following discussions with NHS England, an updated business continuity plan has been published as a “failsafe” if the Primary Care Support England (PCSE) Online system cannot be accessed, with a standard form for patient signatures.
The OFNC is the national negotiating body for eye care in England, working with Westminster Parliament, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, and is made up of representatives from UK optical membership bodies including the AOP.
NHS England has published the plan in advance of the Government’s move to paperless claims and payments for General Ophthalmic Services.
The business continuity plan outlines the steps that practices should take to ensure there is no delay in patient care in instances of a PCSE system outage, poor mobile connectivity, or where there are internet connectivity issues.
OFNC has welcomed the publication of a standard form that can be used to capture patient signatures if PCSE is unavailable.
The negotiating body suggested: “This will bring significant benefits for domiciliary providers, who have found that mobile signal limitations have been a major and longstanding obstacle to delivering care.”
OFNC has been pressing NHS England for action on this issue, since it was first raised by domiciliary providers, the body added, and will continue to monitor and provide feedback on the arrangements.
Practitioners should contact their OFNC membership body if they experience any issues.
Comments (0)
You must be logged in to join the discussion. Log in