Repeat Survey launched to measure the impact of CUES services

29 July 2020

Optometry is playing a crucial role in keeping people safe whilst continuing to deliver essential, urgent and emergency eye care throughout England.

Commissioned separately to essential GOS, urgent and emergency care is delivered through extended primary care provision, such as MECS or CUES – the new COVID-19 Urgent eye care service commissioned specifically to ensure people have access to urgent care throughout the pandemic.

We are aware that in some areas there still isn’t an urgent eyecare service commissioned, despite this practices are often providing urgent care to support their patients and we are keen to record the impact of this work.

A survey of urgent and emergency care was undertaken during the first week of June and the responses covered over 4,500 consultations. Results from the survey showed the extent of non-commissioned activity that is being delivered and data was shared with LOCs at a local level together with the national overview. There have been a number of new CUES services commissioned and so we are repeating the survey in the first week of August to measure the difference that these are making.