Moneo writes: Doing things by the outdated book

A short while ago I took part in a practice inspection prior to granting of an NHS contract. The preparation for this visit was intriguing. It appeared that far more preparation time was spent making sure the bureaucratic paperwork was correct rather than any emphasis on the quality of the sight care that would be delivered under that contract.

However, it is not the never-ending paperchase that I wish to concentrate on in this month’s column. Rather, I would like to concentrate on a conversation that arose during the examination of the quality of the record card keeping. I am pleased to say that in the main there was no fault found but it was the issue of recall intervals that arose at this point. While the record card showed the time interval recommended by the optometrist before the next visit it was pointed out that no actual reason for that time interval was written down. In response to the comment that there was no legal requirement to justify in writing the recall interval it was pointed out that in the current climate that was not really the issue. The record being discussed was of a 74-year-old patient and the record stated ‘retest one year’. A practice member pointed out that as the patient was over 70 the minimum sight test interval was one year and hence this was deemed appropriate. But as we all know that one year interval is a minimum test interval. The understanding of this is of vital importance to all NHS contractors. It is very clear that the vast majority of contractors do not, and never have, really grasped the concept of an NHS sight test.