Dame Andrea Leadsom MP, minister for public health, start for life and primary care, recently met with the Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee (OFNC) to discuss eye care.
The Conservative MP said: ‘I was delighted to meet with the OFNC to discuss the essential role played by NHS sight testing in the prevention of avoidable sight loss, the current challenges facing eye care services and how an expanded role for the primary eye care workforce could help alleviate ophthalmology pressures.’
Among the issues raised were: the need for sustainable funding for general ophthalmic services (GOS), the need for integrated IT connectivity across eye care in England, and the potential benefits of a new national Mecs/Cues specification.
Paul Carroll, OFNC chair said: ‘We welcome the new Minister’s willingness to discuss how primary eye care could take a more prominent role in helping the NHS to reduce waiting times and save direct and indirect costs for patients and the NHS.
‘The Minister is aware that the cornerstone of eye care is sight testing and the invaluable contribution GOS delivers, including identifying patients with eye disease.
‘We stressed that there is an urgent need to increase GOS fees to close the widening gap between NHS sight test fees and inflation. We look forward to further discussions with the Minister to address these pressing issues.’