MPS’ EYE HEALTH DEBATE DRAWS ON OPHTHALMOLOGISTS’ RESEARCH

WHAT ARE THE MEDICOLEGAL TRENDS IN INJECTABLE FACIAL AESTHETICS AND EYELID SURGERY?

[IN MAY Members of Parliament debated the potential merits of a national eye health strategy at Westminster Hall. The debate, tabled by Marsha de Cordova MP, saw Parliamentarians from across the political spectrum cite recent statistics from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) and explore several policy priorities advocated by the college.

They discussed how an eye care strategy, supported by investment and resourcing, could help facilitate solutions to the ophthalmology capacity challenge.

Marsha de Cordova MP stated that ‘nearly 80% of eye care units already do not have enough consultants to meet current demand’, while Dr Rupa Huq MP highlighted that 80% more eye units have become more reliant on multidisciplinary team (MDT) and allied health professionals (AHPs) compared to 12 months ago.

Labour’s Shadow Health Minister Karin Smyth MP linked the statistics to the impact on outpatient backlogs, citing census statistics showing 63% of eye units estimating it will take at least a year to clear and a quarter that it will take at least three years. Shadow Minister Smyth subsequently posted RCOphth census statistics on Twitter.

Increased delivery of NHS-funded ophthalmology care by independent sector providers (ISPs) was also a point of focus by Dr Huq. She drew attention to the Health Service Journal report on the RCOphth Workforce Census 2022, which found that 58% of eye units say ISPs delivering NHSfunded care in their area had a negative impact on patient care and their ophthalmology services. Dr Huq highlighted the specific focus by ISPs on the delivery of ‘low-risk, routine work’ such as cataracts which was leading to sustainability and accessibility issues with local NHS services.

Responding on behalf of the government was Minister for Primary Care and Public Health Neil O’Brien MP, who stated that an expansion in training places would be made available in 2023 and met one of RCOphth’s policy calls by committing to “improved training for existing ophthalmology staff so they can work at the very top of their clinical licence”, including MDT and AHP staff.

Minister O’Brien publicly acknowledged for the first time the challenges associated with the lack of training opportunities provided by ISPs, while stressing the importance of the independent sector’s role in reducing backlogs more broadly.

He stated it is important to “ensure that trainees can get sufficient cataract surgery training and can have a broad range of clinical experiences as they are trained.”

The RCOphth said it believes that is an important acknowledgement and continues to work with NHS England and ISPs to resolve the challenge following publication of the blueprint for cataract training in the independent sector, co-created between RCOphth and NHS England.

Commenting on the proceedings, the RCOphth said: “The college believes that a national eye health strategy, if supported by effective investment and resourcing, would help increase ophthalmology capacity and enable more efficient eye care services, ensuring sustainable hospital eye services that can meet ever-growing patient need. We will continue to engage with politicians from across all parties to advocate for the solutions needed to fix ophthalmology capacity challenges.” q