Department of Health (Eye Care Pathways) First Report - Commissioning Guidance 2004
This first report of the Department of Health's National Eye Care Services Steering Group, was a milestone in the development of optometry and marked a coming of age for the work which the profession itself has done for over a decade in contributing to the development of primary care services under the auspices of shared or co-managed care and now called 'enhanced services'. This report was launched as a form of commissioning guidance for primary care organisations, the aim being that PCOs would be judged against the guidance by Strategic Health Authorities, whose job it is to audit PCO performance.
Please click on the pdf documents at the bottom of this page to read the first report of the Department of Health's Eye Care Services Steering Group, which sets out the care pathways for cataract, glaucoma, low vision and AMD; and the introductory letter from the Department of Health which accompanied the report.
Second and Final Report - January 2007
An evaluationof the results of the pilot pathways was announced at a conference organised by the Department of Health and the RNIB in York called 'Delivering the Vision' on 17/18 January 2007. This evaluation can be viewed amongst the pdf documents at the bottom of this page. It makes positive recommendations regarding the benefit of introducing such care pathways but stressed that the pilots varied in the extent to which they achieved their aims, mainly due to local circumstances. The evaluation offers lessons for commissioners and providers wishing to develop eye care services. It states that if there is to be a change in healthcare provision, projects need to go beyond pilots and become part of mainstream provision.
Department of Health - Commissioning Toolkit for Community Based Eye Care Services 2007
In addition to the final report and evaluation of the pilot eye care pathways (see above), the Department of Health also launced its toolkit for community based eye care services at the January 2007 conference in York. This toolkit, emerging from the General Ophthalmic Services Review, builds on the work of the Eye Care Services Steering Group and their pilot eye care pathways. It is intended to offer practical advice for Primary Care Trusts and practice based commissioners on commissioning community based eye care services. The toolkit is available as a pdf document at the end of this page. It can also be accessed, along with further background information from the Department of Health by clicking on the link below:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/HealthAndSocialCareTopics/Optical/fs/en
NHS Primary Care Contracting - Community Eye Care Services: Review of local schemes for low vision, glaucoma and acute care 2007
This document is a review of local examples of community eye care services. It has been developed as part of the Department of Health's on-going programme of support for community eye care services in partnership with NHS Primary Care Contracting. It complements and sits alongside the Department of Health's 'Commissioning Toolkit for Community based Eye Care Services', referred to above. The PCC review document supports the delivery of key Department of Health policy objectives for both the commissioning and provision of high quality local services, closer to where patients live, moving appropriate primary care services outside the hospital setting, and providing greater choice and accessibility of services to patients. It supports the objectives within recent publications such as the White paper 'Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services', Practice Based Commissioning guidance, and the NHS Operating Framework for 2007-08.
You can view this document as a pdf file at the bottom of this page or click on the PCC website for further details, link below:
http://www.primarycarecontracting.nhs.uk/203.php
Department of Health/NHS Primary Care Contracting - Step-by-Step Guide to Commissioning Community Eye Care Services 2007
The purpose of this guide is to provide information and practical tools for PCTs and Practice Based Commissioners as they commission enhanced primary eye care services. It complements and builds on the two publications listed above - the Department of Health 'Commissioning Toolkit for Community based Eye Care Services' and the NHS Primary Care Contracting 'Review of Local Schemes for Low Vision, Glaucoma and Acute Care' - all three documents available in pdf format at the end of this page.
