To ask the Minister of Health (i) to detail his plans to reimplement the Northern Ireland Primary Eyecare Assessment and Referral Service Plus scheme; and (ii) for his assessment of how this scheme is able to reduce waiting lists and times for treating eye conditions.

The Northern Ireland Primary Eyecare Assessment and Referral Service Plus (NI PEARS Plus) pilot commenced in 2023/24 and ran for thirty-three weeks, with 834 patients accessing the community optometry-based service with acute eye conditions which would otherwise have presented at Belfast HSC Trust Eye Casualty.

NI PEARS Plus seeks to build on the successful NI PEARS scheme which currently manages ca. 4,000 patients in community optometry settings, closer to home.

As per commissioning specification, the pilot is currently being evaluated for impact, assessing metrics around activity, performance, clinical safety, patient experience and cost-effectiveness.

i) Following evaluation, and in consultation with stakeholders, Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG) will make a commissioning decision on whether the service should be mainstreamed and introduced regionally, subject to available funding.

ii) From the initial data analysis approx. 25 patients per week were diverted from BHSCT Eye Casualty to the NIPEARS Plus service thus releasing capacity in Eye Casualty. Approximately 93% of these patients were managed to completion in primary care with approx. 7% subsequently requiring referral back into Eye Casualty as deemed too complex to be managed in primary care.

These figures are subject to validation, and the management and outcomes audited for quality and safety. Any subsequent regional roll-out would be expected to have scaled positive impact on waiting lists and times for acute eye care.