Let battle commence

This year's AOP National Optometric Conference attracted the highest number of delegates to date, with more than 180 people making the trip to York. Emma White reports on the move against changes to the GOS

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The key focus of the event on October 5 was to encourage practitioners to work together in order to best deal with current government plans to reshape General Ophthalmic Services in England.

Ahead of the conference opening, three parallel sessions were held: 'An introduction to negotiation' by Jennie Scott-Reid (independent development consultant); 'Rapid search techniques for the busy clinician' by Bruce Evans (director of research at the Institute of Optometry); and 'Cooperation between ophthalmology and optometry' by Richard Smith (consultant ophthalmologist).

AOP chairman Lynn Hansford welcomed delegates to the event and presented the first keynote speaker Lester Ellman, chief negotiator of the British Dental Association.

Drawing a comparison between legislative proposals for optometry and dentistry, Ellman said that there should be a perception of the improvements to be achieved before change is made to primary care services.

He warned professionals not to trust the Government's 'honey words' and promises in proposals and said that dentistry was now coping with bad workforce planning, dentist shortages, panic recruitment of overseas practitioners and a cash-limited system.

'We left it too late to act and contest the changes being made to dentistry. Don't make the same mistake. You must scream, scream and scream again before the law is changed,' he said.

Ellman's speech was followed by an annual general meeting to discuss the central local optometric committee fund.
 
Primary care toolkit
Optometric adviser Simon Browning then stepped on stage to present the Primary Care Toolkit for Optometry.

Practitioners can use the toolkit to approach commissioners to pitch them for the delivery of modern services.

Browning stressed the importance for practitioners, LOCs and commissioners to work together, which he said the toolkit would help them to do.

'We need to make sure primary care is understood by the Department of Health, and we need to look upon changes positively as commissioners want to modernise services - it is an open door.

'Change isn't necessarily a bad thing. In terms of developing services, a lot of money can be freed up,' he said.

Browning joined a panel discussion after his speech on primary care with Susan Hoath, associate director of strategic planning and service improvement for the Bedford PCT, ophthalmologist Richard Smith and Trevor Warburton, AOP chairman of the professional services committee.

Browning pointed out that GPs would get a percentage share of savings gained from frontline services which gave them an incentive to consult optometrists.

One audience member expressed concern that optometrists taking on additional services may be 'dumped with extra responsibilities', especially if 'back-up from hospitals disappears'. Browning said: 'This is not a law. You don't have to be involved but don't be surprised if PCTs come in and take over a service for you.'

Other queries concerned 'choose-and-book', connection to the internet and payment for referrals. 'Choose-and-book is a nightmare for GPs as well,' he said.

After lunch, Browning and Hoath presented a practical workshop on the Primary Care Toolkit in a parallel session that also included 'Good record-keeping' by Fiona Mitchell, head of defence for the AOP and 'Post-payment verification' by Richard Hampton from the NHS fraud and security management service.