Read the latest RCOphth news updates and guidance here.
NHS Scotland is developing plans to support eye units to increase the number of cataracts performed per four-hour session. RCOphth is inputting into this work to ensure the most appropriate pathways are developed and clinicians and eye units receive the support they need. RCOphth Policy Manager Jordan Marshall explains the scope of the work and future timelines.
Responding to the establishment of the Elective Recovery Taskforce and its focus on utilising independent sector capacity and community diagnostic centres to reduce backlogs, RCOphth stresses the need to preserve the sustainability of NHS ophthalmology services and find solutions to the long-term challenges facing the sector, particularly regarding the workforce.
Responding to the Public Accounts Committee inquiry on ‘Managing NHS backlogs & waiting times’, The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) has stressed the need for consistent national coordination and resourcing of proven eye care innovations alongside an upskilling of the workforce and implementation of integrated pathways, if long backlogs and waiting times for both diagnostic and surgical appointments are to be reduced.
While health was not the central focus amid a range of important announcements on tax and spending, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement contained a positive commitment on workforce planning. RCOphth Policy Manager Jordan Marshall analyses the implications for ophthalmology.
The General Medical Council has (GMC) published ‘The state of medical education and practice in the UK: the workforce report 2022.’ This highlights statistical trends and challenges facing the medical workforce, including specific data on the ophthalmology workforce. RCOphth Policy Manager Jordan Marshall and Policy Advisor David Murray summarise the key findings and what they mean for ophthalmology.
Over the last two weeks, both the Conservatives and Labour held their party conferences, at which they debated, discussed, and announced a range of policy measures that will affect ophthalmology services. RCOphth Policy Advisor David Murray rounds up the key announcements and what they mean for ophthalmology.
On 22 September, the new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Dr Therese Coffey, set out the Government’s plan to improve patient experience of the NHS in England, outlining a range of measures relating to backlogs, workforce challenges, and digitisation of the NHS. RCOphth Policy Advisor David Murray summarises the key implications for NHS ophthalmology services.
Nearly 600,000 people were waiting for ophthalmology treatments in January 2022, the largest waiting list of all NHS specialities, and around 10 per cent of all those on the referral-to-treatment pathway.
The General Medical Council (GMC) is consulting on revising its Good Medical Practice guidance, which is key to appraisal and revalidation. This article explains what the implications of this are and how you can share your views.
Wales has had many problems with the delivery of effective eye care services for a long time, made a lot worse by the challenges of the Covid pandemic, exacerbating backlogs which are potentially putting patient care at risk. The Pyott Report provides recommendations to improve services.
