Registrants in Wales reminded to be compliant with new regulations by 20 October

NHS Wales has reminded optometrists practising in Wales that they will need to be compliant with new General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) regulations by Friday 20 October.

Registrants who are not compliant by this date will no longer be supported or remunerated for work, NHS Wales said.

A letter from NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership to those practising in Wales emphasised that there is now only a “small window of opportunity” to ensure compliance ahead of the new contract coming into force.

Practitioners should “act now” to ensure they will be able to continue providing Welsh GOS (WGOS), the letter said.

Guidance to help navigate the change includes checklists for practitioners, and for practices and contractors.

Crib sheets offering details of early recall dates, WGOS vouchers, eligibility, and recommended minimum intervals are also available.

Current GOS and Eye Health Examination Wales forms for WGOS 1 and 2 have been annotated to reflect the changes, and the Eye Care Wales website is in the process of being updated.

Manuals, webinar recordings, and Q&A sheets from the webinars are available on the website.

A ‘contractor declaration for the introduction of WGOS’ form should also be submitted by the 17 November deadline. Practitioners must complete a form for the health board that they provide services in.

Support is available for those with questions relating to the changes. Those with questions around listing should contact NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership.

Questions around education should be directed to Health Education Improvement Wales.

Sharon Beatty, clinical adviser at Optometry Wales, is also available to answer questions via email.

New regulations for those working in Wales were published by the Welsh Government at the end of September.

They can be reviewed in full online.