News & Views

We would like to highlight the following support documents for our SAS colleagues to take forward when discussing your new contracts or roles.

RCOphth President Professor Bernie Chang explains the positive action being taken by NHS England through its cataract specification, which the College has supported to develop.

The government and NHS England published a joint plan last week setting out how they intend to support the recovery of elective services over the next three years. RCOphth Policy Manager Jordan Marshall summarises the key implications for ophthalmology services.

Annual planning guidance published by NHS England has set out priorities for increases in elective and diagnostic activity, as well as the ambition to reduce outpatient follow-ups by a quarter over the next year. The 2022/23 guidance contains a number of targets which are particularly relevant to ophthalmology.

New statement from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges sets out 12 solutions to tackle the NHS workforce crisis. The momentum for urgent action is growing.

A new report published today reviews the role of multi-professional teams during the pandemic and considers how the members of different occupational groups came together to deliver care differently. Multi-professional team-working - the experience and lessons from COVID-19 published by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AOMRC) focuses on lessons learned about the enablers for and barriers to effective multi-professional team-working.

A new document from the National Eye Care Recovery and Transformation Programme Team sets out the current courses and qualifications (including core professional skills) for registered eye health care professionals and how they relate to service capabilities that provide safe patient care.

This new scheme offers junior ophthalmology doctors from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds the opportunity to effect positive change by being a mentor.

As Chair, you will provide leadership of the Clinical Leads Forum supporting ophthalmic clinical leads in their roles. This is a great role for someone who wants to make an impact on eye care services and support fellow leads in delivering the best services possible.

As 240 new Fellows were welcomed to The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) today, President Bernie Chang paid tribute to their resilience in pursuing their training whilst also stepping up to care for patients and support NHS colleagues during the pandemic.