Wes Streeting signals NHS ‘high street’ shift as community optometry is praised

Wes Streeting signals NHS ‘high street’ shift as community optometry is praised

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting has signalled a ‘hospital to high street’ shift for the NHS – as community optometry’s capabilities have been highlighted by health service leaders.

Mr Streeting set out his plans at the NHS Confederation Expo, where the organisation’s chief executive praised optometry for delivering community glaucoma care and declared the profession has the capability to do even more.

The NHS Confederation is the membership organisation that brings together, supports and speaks for the whole healthcare system in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Its members employ more than 1.5 million staff, care for more than one million patients a day and control £150 billion of public expenditure.

Mr Streeting said: ‘Much of what’s done in a hospital today will be on the high street, over the phone or through the app in a decade’s time.’

Matthew Taylor, NHS Confederation’s chief executive, praised the glaucoma service provided by community optometrists at the conference held in Manchester on 11 and 12 June.

Talking about a recent visit to Sale Specsavers, Mr Taylor said: ‘They’re doing fantastic work there as part of a contract for the whole of Greater Manchester.’

He elaborated on the scope for greater involvement from community optometry, particularly in the early detection and treatment of conditions such as glaucoma.

‘They could be detecting glaucoma earlier, they could be treating it earlier, they could be prescribing the drops,’ he said, noting that 96% of the population are within 10 minutes of a Specsavers. However, he pointed out that most glaucoma appointments still occur in outpatients in more expensive and less accessible acute hospital settings.

He also said that there was a ‘huge appetite, locally, to do things different’ if the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS delivered a suitable framework. ‘Outpatient services should and could be transformed with most checks and follow-ups done in neighbourhoods or remotely,’ he said.

Professor Claire Fuller, Primary Care Medical Director for NHS England, told the same conference about the need to redesign services so long-term conditions are managed outside hospitals in England.

Welcoming the comments, Specsavers clinical services director Giles Edmonds said: ‘Community optometry and audiology are well placed to provide enhanced access to care for patients and support the NHS as the Westminster government looks to shift healthcare from hospital to high street. Our expert clinicians provide outstanding care to the communities that they serve.’