Mrs LA Alexander
Chief Executive
UK Vision Strategy
RNIB Headquarters
105 Judd Street
London
WC1H 9NE
21 November 2012
Dear Mrs Alexander,
UK Vision Strategy refresh consultation: Setting the direction for eye health and sight loss services
The General Optical Council (GOC) welcomes this opportunity to respond to the UK Vision Strategy refresh consultation. The GOC is pleased to have contributed to the original strategy and we are delighted to see the progress that has been made since its launch.
As the regulator for the optical professions in the UK our statutory function is ‘to protect, promote and maintain the health and safety’ of members of the public. We interpret this in our Mission as ‘Assuring the health and protection of those who use the services of optometrists and dispensing opticians’. Therefore we feel that our work as a regulator contributes to the ambition of the UK Vision strategy.
We agree with the overarching strategic aims of the strategy including the aims of improving the eye health of the people of the UK and eliminating avoidable sight loss. We feel that pursuing the three strategic outcomes should continue to be priorities and have the following specific comments on the strategy.
Strategic Outcome 1: Improving the eye health of the people of the UK
The priority action 1.3 ‘Increasing the understanding of eye health among health and social care and education practitioners, through existing and new training and development programmes’ is an important priority for the UK Vision Strategy which aligns with the work of the GOC.
It is essential that eye care practitioners maintain the up to date skills and knowledge needed to practise safely and effectively throughout their career. To ensure this, we oversee a mandatory Continuous Education and Training (CET) scheme. After extensive research and consultation the GOC will be introducing its enhanced CET scheme on 1 January 2013. This is to ensure practitioners keep their knowledge and skills up-to-date and will address the risks identified in our research.
Link: Enhanced CET webpage: http://www.optical.org/en/our_work/Education/enhanced-cet-post--2012/index.cfm
Strategic Outcome 2:Eliminating avoidable sight loss and delivering excellent support for people with sight loss
We agree with priority action 2.8 that ‘reliable, accessable and relevant information on eye conditions, eye care, sight loss services, support networks and legal entitlements should be easily available in a range of formats, to enable people to understand their options, select services and make informed decisions. The GOC’s code of conduct specifies that a registered optometrist or dispensing optician (or person undertaking training) must:
· give patients information in a way they can understand and make them aware of the options available; on the issue of patient consent, be aware of and comply with the guidance published by the professional bodies
· respect the rights of patients to be fully involved in decisions about their care
Link: http://www.optical.org/en/Standards/Standards_in_conduct.cfm
Strategic Outcome 3: Inclusion, participation and independence for people with sight loss
The GOC agrees with the strategy’s ambition to
· improve attitudes, awarness and actions towards people with sight loss;
· remove significant barriers to inclusion; and
· achieve improved compliance with disability discrimination legislation.
It is right that people with sight loss have equal access to job, education, training and leisure activities. Advances in technology should also be utilised to meet the needs of people with sight loss.
We would be interested in the plans to report on progress and whether the desired outcomes have been achieved. It would be helpful to see an annual review of progress every year and a plan to review and update the strategy.
We hope this has been useful. If you have any questions or for further information please contact Katie Nurcombe, Policy Manager at the GOC .
Yours sincerely,
Samantha Peters
Chief Executive