The College of Optometrists launches its Manifesto for Scotland

The College of Optometrists has today published its Manifesto for Scotland, setting out its four priority recommendations for the next Scottish government to build on this strong foundation and further advance access to optometry-led community eye care in Scotland: 

1. Expand community eye care services 
   Early diagnosis and treatment to prevent avoidable sight loss requires universal access to enhanced community eye care services. The College is calling on Scottish health policymakers to safeguard funding for existing community eye care services during the next government, such as the NHS Community Glaucoma Service, and prioritise the rapid scale-up of these services across the country - including in the islands and rural communities – to deliver more specialised care closer to home and increase hospital capacity for complex cases.
2. Invest in a sustainable, skilled optometry workforce 
   To meet the growing need for delivering enhanced community eye care services across Scotland, it’s critical the government commits to further investment in education and training to ensure Scotland has the optometrists it needs, now and in the future. The restoration of government funding for free access to Docet’s Continued Professional Development (CPD) resources for optometrists in Scotland would bring Scotland back in line with the rest of the UK, giving equitable access to high-quality specialist CPD to ensure eye care services are delivered safely and maintaining their licence to practice.
3. Prioritise digital connectivity 
   Inconsistencies in digital systems are causing delays to diagnosis and treatment for patients. Ensuring all locum optometrists have access to NHS email and the Scottish Care Information (SCI) Gateway, and the sector-wide adoption of standardised digital image files to improve sharing between hospital and community eye care services would speed up referrals and joined-up care, helping prevent avoidable sight loss.
4. Address inequalities in access to eye care 
   Scotland is the only UK nation with universal access to NHS-funded eye care, yet only around half of people say they would go to an optometrist first for an eye problem - many say they will go to their GP, A&E, or nowhere at all****. 
   
   Public education campaigns are needed to encourage people to attend for regular eye tests with their local optometrist, specifically targeted at people in more deprived communities, as well as targeted support and prevention programmes to help reduce avoidable sight loss and reduce inappropriate pressure on GPs and A&Es.