Article Highlights the Need for Primary Eye Care To Support NHS
23 September 2022
An article in the Health Service Journal has set out how primary care can help tackle the growing backlog in NHS Outpatient ophthalmology.
Written by the chief executive of the AOP, Adam Sampson, it calls for eye health pathway reform which Adam describes as “a quick win”.
Adam goes on to say: “The opportunity, then, is to use optometrists to absorb some of the demand which is causing so much of the backlog in secondary care.
“Our ability to do so has already been demonstrated by the success of the Covid-19 Urgent Eyecare Service – a pathway created in the first months of the pandemic to relieve pressure on secondary care and which by March 2021 covered 78 per cent of the population.”
Zoe Richmond, clinical director, LOCSU said:
“This article helpfully sets out the scale of the opportunity. Primary eye care can deliver a sustainable solution in an integrated care model, offering continuity for patients.”