AOP welcomes King’s Fund call for funding

^{AOP chief executive Adam Sampson}

A report from independent charity the King’s Fund has been welcomed by the Association of Optometrists (AOP) after it called for a shift of funding towards primary and community health care to improve patient services.

The report highlighted ‘30 years of failures of successive governments’, with the Department of Health allocating £83.1bn to acute hospitals and just £14.9bn to primary care.

It stressed the need for greater investment with a redirection of future funding into an extensive plan to refocus the health and care system towards primary and community care.

AOP chief executive Adam Sampson said: ‘The King’s Fund report is another desperate reminder that the current health and care system in England is failing. The answer to the waiting list crisis in the NHS is not to ask for more from hospitals; it is time for a long-term funding commitment that puts primary and community services at the core of patient care.’