Ophthalmic Services
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the (a) Minor Eye Conditions Service and (b) Community Urgent Eyecare Service on (i) patient outcomes and (ii) unnecessary referrals to secondary care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them. This can include the commissioning of enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices.
NHS England accelerator pilots have demonstrated that improved IT connectivity and a single point of access can significantly speed up eye care referrals and support more patients to be managed in the community, in line with the ambitions in the 10-Year Health Plan.
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