Optical sector leaders press for PCSE payments resolution

Leaders from within the optical sector have told NHS England and Capita that the latest plans to turn around the poorly performing ophthalmic payments service must not fail.

Last month leaders demanded crunch talks with NHS England to highlight the chaos this was causing to the sector and sound out the organisation’s plans for the improvement of the PCSE service, delivered by Capita.

Karen Wheeler, the NHS England director responsible for overseeing the contract, provided assurances that Capita were being held to account for their unacceptable service levels and confirmed that financial penalties had been applied. She confirmed that she had been working with Capita at ‘CEO level’ to ensure there was a better focus and additional resources going into driving recovery across PCSE. It was expected that payments would stabilise at the end of October, with residual issues resolved by the ned of the year.