Optometry is an under-recognised part of the primary care workforce that needs to be integrated with the wider NHS in England, stressed optical bodies reacting to a review of primary care.
Eye health issues were already the second highest reason for outpatient visits, said The Optical Confederation and Local Optical Committee Support Unit, which would escalate due to the aging population.
Commissioning of eye services had been shown to prevent unnecessary hospital attendances but better IT infrastructure was needed to link services, it was stressed. Further demands called for an increase in the numbers of optometrists trained in independent prescribing together with a framework to support them.
The optical bodies were responding to an ongoing primary care inquiry by the House of Commons Health Committee.
Chris Hunt, chairman of the Optical Confederation, told Optician: ‘This is a very important inquiry. Much more needs to be done outside hospital and GP practices across the whole of primary care if the NHS is to meet demand and cope with its financial pressures.
‘Under such circumstances, it makes sense for the NHS to fully engage with the community based eye health providers. We are Primary Care. Optometrists and opticians should be the first point of call and major providers of NHS eye health and eye care services.
‘All that is needed is more effective commissioning through the LOCSU pathways and a small amount of investment in the necessary IT infrastructure.
‘We can then do the rest within core skills and by working with Health Education England to upskill when necessary, for example, to develop more prescribing optometrists.’
Hunt added that committee chair Dr Sarah Wollaston MP had confirmed to the OC at this week’s Conservative party conference that the inquiry will consider the whole of primary care, not just General Practice.
So far, the emphasis had again been mainly on GP, and to some extent pharmacy services, and experimenting with more structural and organisational change. The response added. ‘What is needed is a system that supports the population and older people in particular in a more holistic way. The crucial elements of this – sight, hearing, balance, teeth, medicines, management, flu vaccination, weight, continence and mobility – can all be delivered effectively in primary care.’
It also follows research this week showing 27 per cent of GP appointments could potentially be avoided.
The Making Time In General Practice study by NHS Alliance and the Primary Care Foundation called for more coordinated working between GPs and hospitals, wider use of other primary care staff and better use of technology to streamline administrative burdens. It estimated that one in six of the patients in the study could potentially have been seen by someone else in the wider primary care team, but without mentioning optometry.
Rick Stern, chief executive of NHS Alliance, said: ‘This report documents how general practice is struggling with an increasing workload and the urgent action required to relieve this burden.’
