Two weeks after optometrists were missed out of a major Department of Health review of allergy providers, there’s some better news emanating from the Government department, which has announced it is beginning a three-month consultation process on OOs becoming independent prescribers. In explanation, health minister Lord Warner said that ‘Optometrists have a unique set of skills to help people who are suffering with eye problems and will often be more knowledgeable about these conditions than the local GP’. The move, said the DoH, would allow optometrists to take on additional responsibilities and support modernisation of eye care services by improving access choice and waiting times for patients. This comes on top of optometrists being made supplementary prescribers in July 2005, and if given the go-ahead the law could be changed in 2007. Reading numerous health-related reports in recent years, from obesity to allergy, you could be forgiven for thinking that optometrists are unknown entities at the Department, but now it seems that the DoH has known all along that they have more to offer. The statement comes with a supporting comment from the College of Optometrists’ Bryony Pawinska that optometrists are highly skilled eye care professionals who should ‘be seen as the first port of call for the public if they have a problem with their eyes’. If that message is slowly getting through to the Department of Health, as it seems, there is every reason to believe that it may well filter down to the end user, given a little time.
This would bring about a major change in how optometrists are perceived and would offer a more convenient means of treatment for conditions that could include anything from allergic reactions up to more complex conditions, subject to the participating practitioner’s specialities.
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