Optical Confederation joins party conference mission

The Optical Confederation is joining forces with the British Dental Association, National Community Hearing Association and Pharmacy Voice to promote primary care alternatives at this year’s party conferences.

The coalition of primary care organisations, representing 100,000 healthcare professionals working in over 30,000 community premises, will urge attendees to look beyond general practice at the whole of primary care when considering alternatives to hospital care.

‘Every day millions of people visit dentists, opticians, audiologists and pharmacies for treatment and advice on how to keep healthy. Utilising the skills, workforce and accessible locations of these community health professionals effectively holds the key to transforming primary care and public health outcomes in the UK,’ they said, adding that they were calling on the next government to work with them to make the vision a reality through better commissioning of services to meet the needs of local populations.