Written question WQ90378

The ministerial ophthalmology summit held in November 2022, highlighted a number of areas for improvement, including, but not limited to:

• Increasing regional working

• Increased activity for cataract procedures, including a refined pathway.

• Improved resilience in an upskilled workforce, assuring the use of community optometrists working at the top of their licence.

• Improved estates that maximise hospital capacity.

Progress is being made against these issues and they will be assessed in a further summit later this year. Attendance at this meeting will include key stakeholders from Welsh NHS organisations and where appropriate the third sector.

All health boards in Wales can commission services through outsourcing if they feel it appropriate. Health boards are expected to deliver services regionally, allowing for the finite capacity of ophthalmic services to be utilised effectively. In order to achieve this health boards will need to ensure appropriate training opportunities to the clinical workforce. Regional working, along with optometric contract reform and upskilling the NHS workforce are all key aspects of improving ophthalmic care and reducing the backlog. This is underpinned by the planned care recovery plan, published in April 2022.

The recent reform of optometry services is already benefitting patients across Wales, improving access and outcomes and sign posting to other services, including third sector.