OC delivers events on community health

The Optical Confederation (OC) has joined with other leading health organisations to host ‘fringe’ events during the political party conference season.

Titled Hospitals under pressure: the community solution?, the events will be hosted at this year’s Labour (26 September) and Conservative (4 October) party conferences.

Senior representatives from each organisation, including the NHS Confederation, the Local Government Association and the Health Foundation, will discuss how community healthcare providers can help reduce pressure on hospitals, and will use the optical sector as an example of how community services can support the change in a sustainable way.

Discussions will also take place on the cuts to public health funding, social care provision and preventative healthcare.

Speaking on behalf of the Optical Confederation, managing director of the Local Optical Committee Support Unit, Katrina Venerus, said: “These events are a great opportunity to highlight to key stakeholders how community eye health providers are relieving pressure on GPs and hospitals.

“We will be sharing best-practice examples of locally commissioned eye care services and calling on political decision-makers to follow national priorities and accelerate the uptake of these models at scale and pace, increasing access and capacity in an innovative yet sustainable way in their local areas,” she concluded.