Read the latest RCOphth news updates and guidance here.
We are today publishing our three-step plan to future-proof NHS ophthalmology and are calling on politicians and policymakers to follow our recommendations to secure a sustainable and comprehensive eyecare service for people across the UK.
Our new organisational strategy launched on 1 January. Covering the period from 2024 to 2026, it sets out our commitment to championing the eye health specialty and improving patient care.
Following the independent Pyott Report which reviewed eye care services in Wales, important progress on significant investment in Welsh eye care infrastructure, including full regionalisation of services, is being made. We update on this work, which includes £150,000 funding from the Welsh Government to develop a National Clinical Strategy for Ophthalmology. This article also examines a new plan from NHS Wales to develop the health workforce and what it will mean for ophthalmology services.
The Royal College of Ophthalmologists has carried out a culture initiative, exploring working relationships, ways of working and behaviours, which has generated a set of values to bind us together, underpinned by ways of working and behaviours which we feel will really help to generate an even more cohesive and collaborative environment at the College and with members. These values we aspire to are; Inclusive, Innovation, Improvement and Integrity, all with a set of behaviours that demonstrate what these mean in our day to day activities and working relationships. We are now working on meaningfully embedding these values in everything that we do.
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.
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 Royal College of Ophthalmologists President, Professor Bernie Chang, joined a panel of senior leaders from across the eye care sector at the launch of the Specsavers State of the UK’s Eye Health 2022 report. Professor Chang was joined by Dr Peter Hampson, Clinical Director, Association of Optometrists, Ross Campbell, Ophthalmic Director of RCO Ltd, Fiona Sandford, Chief Executive of Visionary and was chaired by Dr Michael Mosley, to discuss how to draw on industry expertise to improve patient outcomes.
With public satisfaction in the NHS falling amid rising waiting times and staff shortages, RCOphth President Professor Bernie Chang outlines the urgent need to increase ophthalmology workforce capacity alongside investing in recovery services.
The National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellow scheme is run by the Faculty of Medical Leadership & Management (FMLM) and places fellows at a national healthcare-affiliated host organisation for a full-time 12-month position. The scheme is designed to develop skills in leadership, management, strategy, project management, and health policy. For those of you interested in a portfolio career, this interest area is an alternative to the traditional routes of research and teaching.
In the Annual Report 2020, Bernie Chang, President of The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) praises the commitment shown by all ophthalmologists who battled daily to deliver eye care services for patients during the Covid-19 pandemic.
