‘Hairdressers refer more patients for eye cancer than optometrists do.’ This was the stark statistic that Richard Rawlinson, commissioning lead for Locsu, delivered at the end of an NOC workshop. It served to support consistent calls throughout the conference for the need for more ‘medicalisation’ of practices, which would help propel optics in a different direction by emphasising its medical credentials.
Chesford Grange Hotel in Kenilworth, Warwickshire hosted 230 NOC delegates over the course of two days – November 14-15 – and this year’s NOC centred on change of leadership, changing relationships between professional bodies and a new Locsu strategy and branding.
New look
Locsu revealed its new logo and website at the event. The new logo, pictured, uses the letter ‘L’ multiple times to form the image of a square shaped eye. It was designed by the company Cream Design and was ‘universally endorsed by the staff and board of Locsu and NOC delegates’, said Chris McGachy, head of communications at Locsu.
Outlining the reasons behind the rebrand, McGachy, said: ‘Feedback shows that around two-thirds of our audience are now using mobiles to read news from Locsu. ‘The Locsu website is an important resource for LOCs and PECs, as well as being the pubic face of the organisation. The most important aspect was to make the site mobile-friendly, so that our audience can access training and information on the go and in bite-size pieces.’
Locsu’s website has also undergone a redesign, with ‘a sharper navigation designed specifically for LOC and PEC users’, said McGachy. ‘The next stage of the project will be to update the LOCNET platform – which offers free website and hosting for each LOC – with new templates, functionality and help with content.’ The aim, McGachy said, was for closer working to co-ordinate content and improve messaging for LOCs. He told delegates that in addition to promoting Locsu’s strategic aims, the revamp would boost use of training programmes that help LOCs work effectively on a range of levels, from role-based skills to running AGMs and succession planning.
New chair
A farewell dinner on November 14 paid homage to the exiting chair, Alan Tinger, and helped set the mood of change that ran throughout the conference.
In the morning of November 15, Tinger gave his final speech as Locsu chair to a packed conference hall. He spoke of his honour in representing the organisation for the past decade and the benefits the role had brought him before giving way to the new non-executive chair, Mike Fegan.
Locsu in numbers
‘I have been privileged to chair Locsu from its infancy through to the fully functioning business it is today,’ said Tinger. ‘I was very pleased to welcome Mike Fegan as my successor and I know that he has the right qualities and extensive experience and that together with the Locsu board and Locsu team, it is in very safe hands going forward.’
Fegan, the first non-executive director of the AOP for the past four years, has previously worked for FTSE 100 companies, SMEs, non-profits and other organisations in a number of senior roles. He will assist Locsu chief operating officer (COO) Richard Whittington and will lead the board in its goal of serving all Locsu stakeholders.
‘My focus is to ensure that we keep up with, and make the most of, the opportunities that exist, and mitigate the risks,’ said Fegan.
A chartered accountant by trade, Fegan is a specialist in change management and said he hoped to put his experience to good use in his new role. He said he was ‘flattered’ by the appointment and that the profession was ‘an exciting place to be’ at the moment.
When asked by Optician what challenges face the profession, he said: ‘With technological changes taking place, the traditional sight test market is going to change – it may take some years but primary eyecare services (PES) are going to go the other way. So, we need more involvement by the health service in bodies like primary eyecare companies (PECs).’
Fegan said nobody knows exactly how much value PES could add to the optical sector in the years to come but that ‘Locsu and the PECs are well placed’ to drive that value creation.
‘I think the difficultly with Locsu is that it is small, with limited resources, competing with large business that are seemingly taking off. I’ve done a lot on change management and I think I can help with how we control this, how we manage and get some of the governance around it.
‘We need to develop a strategic plan for Locsu which is supported by the LOCs and shareholders in Locsu. That may involve reallocating resources or raising a bit more money, so we can support the activities of Locsu and the PECs even better.’
Locsu activity and revenue
New strategy
After lunch delegates congregated in the main hall to hear COO Whittington announce the formation of Locsu’s new five-year strategy. Whittington started by analysing what was described as a ‘stall’ in CCG commissioned services last year, which he argued was due, in part, to uncertainty about the introduction of Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs). From March 2016-17, revenue from services rose from £1m to £2m, while activity increased from around 20,000 patient episodes to 35,000. From March 2017-18, however, this increase slowed, with only a £150,000 increase in revenue between the two months and a mere 5,000 more patient episodes to 40,000. This slowdown in activity and revenue is illustrated in the graph.
Service activity and revenue from March 2016-18
One consequence of the stall, said Whittington, was that ‘competition has now caught up and is strong’. He argued that ‘structures and systems need to be robust enough to rival private providers’, such as Care UK, Virgin Care and HSB UK. This, he stated, could be achieved through the ‘consolidation of PECs’ and the accompanying bargaining power it provided. A constant message throughout the conference was that joining a PEC was beneficial to the process of applying for CCG contracts as it augmented the collective bargaining ability of LOCs and helped reinforce the PECs as a deliverer of care pathways.
According to data from Locsu, LOCs in PECs are attracting more services and activity, a trend that is mirrored in practices. As of March 2018, 59 LOCs, or 76%, have a service through a PEC, and PEC activity and revenue was up 24% on the previous year. Meanwhile, 375 out of 693 services – 54% – are being delivered through PECs and 32 out of 38 PECs have at least one community service.
Given the growing importance and efficacy of PECs within the Locsu structure, Whittington said Locsu will ‘deliver a long-term five-year strategy that builds on breakthroughs and cements PECs as the go-to provider of choice for end-to-end pathway delivery. Also, [it will] redefine and reinforce LOCs as the first contact for any person or organisation looking to the redevelop pathways delivered in primary care.’
In order to do this, the strategy needs to address several key points over the next five years. Among other objectives, Locsu aims to ‘innovate new models of care centred on optical practices across eye care and general health services’, offer ‘continued support for LOCs across a whole range of subjects, including commissioning, communication and influencing’, and continue its support for PECs through a ‘focus around governance and financial management’ that will strengthen their capability to win contracts.
The new Locsu strategy will be co-produced, ‘resulting in joint ownership between LOCs and Locsu’. A collaborative consultation document will be produced by Locsu in early 2019, with regional LOC meetings to take place after. Consultation on the document will lead to a final draft that will be shared with all LOCs across England. The strategy will then be launched later in 2019.
A number of workshops provided throughout the day supported Locsu’s aims. A workshop on effective LOC communication urged LOCs to engage more with local practitioners and media outlets, emphasise the medical aspect of optometry to people with more effect and improve communication channels between different LOCs and public health bodies.
Meanwhile, a workshop on developing LOC and PEC roles focused on the structure of each organisation, and again called for a clearer emphasis on opticians being seen as deliverers of primary care services over that of ‘refractive clinics and spectacle sellers’.
Delegates at the event spoke of a greater sense of optimism compared with last year and the changes that Locsu has implemented, or will seek to, are further indications that the organisation is doing what it deems best for its members in changing times.