Menu

Take part in the OFNC timing survey

24 August 2022

 

 

 

The OFNC has now opened its NHS sight test timing survey.
By completing this short survey you will help us demonstrate the time it takes to deliver an NHS funded sight test and support one strand of our negotiating strategy on behalf of all GOS contractors in England.
The sight test has grown in content and complexity as diagnostic equipment has improved and the patient mix has become older and more complex. NHS England (NHSE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) collect data on patient episodes for other professions but have not done so for some time for primary eye care. It is therefore important to provide data on the current time taken to deliver an NHS sight test so that they better understand resource requirements for delivering GOS.

The survey will close at midnight on Monday 19 September.

• Access the survey here
• Access the guide to completing survey questions here

 

If possible, please also encourage local practice/business owners in your LOC to take part.

If you have any questions about the timing survey, please contact the lead at your membership body:
• ABDO.      dmcgill@abdo.org.uk
• AOP.          peterhampson@aop.org.uk
• FODO.      harjit.sandhu@fodo.com

Note for Editors
The Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee (OFNC) is the national negotiating body for eye care in England with the Westminster Parliament, the Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England-NHS Improvement. It comprises the leaders of the UK representative bodies: ABDO, AOP, FODO and BMA (for OMPs) and works in partnerships with the College of Optometrists and the General Optical Council.

 

Buckinghamshire LOC Latest News

NHS Knowledge and Library Services for Optometry Teams

Resources All optometry teams offering NHS-commissioned services and working directly with NHS patients have access to NHS Knowledge and Library Services, such as ebooks, journals, databases and BMJ Best Practice. These resources include specialist ophthalmology and optometry journals and resources on eye conditions. See BLMK Knowledge & Library Resources to sign up for an NHS OpenAthens account, …

19 February 2025

New Provider for Buckinghamshire Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (DESP)

From 1st April 2025 InHealth are going to be the new provider of the NHS diabetic eye screening service for Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. The current providers (Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust) will continue to be responsible for screening provision until their contract ends. InHealth currently provide …

17 February 2025

BLMK Primary Care Hypertension Conference

BLMK ICB have asked us to circulate the below information for anyone interesting in attending the conference that is taking place on 2nd April.   Join us for a fantastic conference which will bring together community pharmacists, dentists, optometrists, and general practice colleagues across BLMK. The event will be hosted by Dr Vijay Nayar, GP …

17 February 2025

OFNC Statement: Clinical Priority Codes

  NHS England has published new clinical priority codes for use by GOS contractors in England. This is due to an error in the current PCSE system which NHS England commission. This means that some sight tests, which should not require an early retest code, are erroneously requiring a code to be entered to process …

3 February 2025

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Ophthalmology Out-of-Hours service for MK

BLMK (Bedford Luton and Milton Keynes) Integrated Care Board is working to put in place an out-of-hours ophthalmology service for its system by 1st April 2025. This new service will manage the needs of Milton Keynes residents and full details will be communicated in due course. Until 31st March 2025, arrangements for urgent booked ophthalmology care are …

10 January 2025

Cessation of Bucks Ophthalmology Out of Hours cover for MKUK / BLMK

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust (BHT) has asked us to remind practitioners that, effective from 4th November 2024, BHT and specifically Eye Casualty at Stoke Mandeville will no longer accept any urgent or out of hours referrals from Milton Keynes University Hospital (A&E or Urgent Care Services), or any other emergency / out of hours referrals …

6 November 2024

Cataract Post-op Portal

As of June 2024, patients attending for cataract surgery at BHT will be given a printed letter to take their optometrist when attending the post-op refraction appointment. The letter will have their unique PIN code and a link to the secure Medisight Portal. This is to enable BHT to collect post-op visual acuity and refractive …

2 July 2024

AGM 2024 Update

The nominal date and time for our AGM was 8.00 pm on 18th April.  Like last year, no physical meeting was held;  instead, AGM papers were posted on our website and all on our database were given the opportunity to pose questions, nominate committee members and vote for resolutions, online. Three existing committee members, Ahmed …

10 May 2024

Buckinghamshire Community Ophthalmology Service Update

The Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust (BHT) Community Ophthalmology Service has now been running for 6 months, having taken over provision of this service from Operose Health. All patients transferred from Operose to the new BHT Community Ophthalmology Service (COS) who were due an appointment up to now have been offered a face to face appointment. …

9 May 2024

AGM 2024

The 2024 AGM of Buckinghamshire Local Optical Committee will be at 8.00pm on the evening of 18th April. Like last year, we won’t be holding a physical meeting; instead you will have the opportunity to pose questions, nominate and vote for committee members, and vote for the resolutions, online. Papers will be posted on this …

7 April 2024

LOCSU Latest news

OFNC Responds to the Government’s Second Phase of the Spending Review

OFNC calls for an additional £350m of funding for NHS primary eye care.

19 February 2025

Follow us on social media