College welcomes new Department of Health and Social Care team

In our letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, we focussed our concern that optometry education is currently not actively and adequately protected. There is no access to the Clinical Tariff or Learning Support Fund, minimal employer grants, less investment in CPD than for other similar professions, and no national support for further qualifications, including independent prescribing.  

Funding for optometry education is unevenly allocated compared to that of pharmacy and other primary care professions. This leads to an unfair distribution of education support, and specifically a lack of education support for optometry. Our concern is this may result in a shortage of optometrists to deliver care in the future, which would impact upon patients and cause further issues for the NHS in dealing with resultant worsening of eye care. 

The Rt Hon Dame Diana Johnson DBE MP has been given responsibility for Public Health and Patient Safety, and her portfolio covers neighbourhood health, community healthcare, health inequalities and prevention. We have also written to her to discuss the role optometry can play in delivering these priorities and improving outcomes for patients. Community optometrists provide accessible, local care and can identify eye disease at an early stage, including conditions such as glaucoma and diabetic eye disease. Enabling optometrists to deliver a wider range of NHS services closer to home would help reduce pressure on hospitals while improving access to timely care, particularly for communities at greater risk of poor eye health.