OOs taken to task for unnecessary referrals

A claim that optometrists are making too many unnecessary referrals to doctors has sparked reaction from throughout the eye care community.

In an opinion article published by BMJ last week, ophthalmologist Michael Clarke of Newcastle University expressed his belief that ‘the NHS must find a solution to the waste generated by unnecessary referrals from unregulated, scattergun screening of patients attending for NHS sight tests’. Eye healthcare was described as ‘bad medicine’.

Clarke said ophthalmology received more NHS outpatient referrals than any other specialty apart from trauma and orthopaedics, claiming the Opticians Act was being interpreted to mean an optometrist had a responsibility to refer any patient with an ocular abnormality.