Optometrists are in an ideal position to benefit from the creation of autonomous General Practitioner Federations when they come into effect next April.
Rachel Helm, Director of Hum UK, which supports the Heidelberg Engineering Academy as a business partner, said by providing support services beyond clinical education such as marketing, financial and patient journey planning advice, the Academy offered the means of integrating OCT into practice.
Helm, who is an expert at integrating services into the NHS across a range of disciplines said: ‘Commissioning is moving to health outcomes and it is really going to pay dividends for providers to show that they can offer this service. There is a massive opportunity for optometrists to integrate clinical pathways, particularly for the provision of glaucoma and AMD care,’ she said.
GP Federations will be comprised of groups covering up to 60,000 patients. GPs will focus on preventative care in local areas and, said Helm and optometrists are well placed as services come out of hospitals and into the community. ‘So much can be done with OCT and taking a multi-modality approach to accurate diagnosis and referrals, along with tackling chronic disease control.
‘High quality management and infrastructure support is critical. GPs are currently being urged by the RCGP to ‘ensure the momentum and buy-in to the change process, identifying key stakeholders and to ensure that they are involved – to use the team as agents of change’ – it is an unrivalled opportunity for the profession.’
‘Capitalising on changing the NHS landscape, with a significant number of services coming out of the hospital setting, is a major opportunity for those who are well versed in OCT and multi-modality imaging. Routine and planned care, plus diagnostics, provided as primary care in collaboration with local hospitals, is the future for optometry believes Heidelberg Engineering, which has invested in its Academy to support practitioners at every level of their journey.
‘For effective engagement your staff need to understand the clinical model. It is important to have a stakeholder plan and to invite primary care into the practice, and form alliances with GPs. It is no wonder that so many hospitals are using the SPECTRALIS, due to its unique comparison tracking function, added Helm.