To ask the Minister of Health whether his Department has considered rolling out the NIPEARS Plus pilot regionally, following its successful implementation in the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.

A novel NI PEARS (Northern Ireland Primary Eyecare Assessment and Referral Service) Plus service, which aimed to build on the successful regional core NI PEARS service, was piloted within the Belfast Health & Social Care Trust (BHSCT) catchment area, from April-December 2023, with a brief extension into 2024 to support Trust with roll-out of encompass.

The service aims included making optimum use of clinically-skilled primary care optometrists, facilitation of appropriate access to eye care for patients with specific conditions rapidly and close to home, and to reduce the number of patients requiring specialist secondary care ophthalmology services.

A total of 841 patients accessed the service during the pilot, generating 1,331 optometry primary care appointments, including follow-up. BHSCT triaged out 628 of the patients, representing 10.6% of 5,914 referrals into BHSCT Eye Casualty during the pilot period (the remainder being primary care intra-professional referrals).

Pilot evaluation shows access, patient experience and clinical outcomes to be strong, with the capacity-releasing aim achieved and clinical safety non-inferior.

Any regional roll-out will need to address recommendations outlined in the pilot evaluation, including requirements for improved booking and administration systems and protocols, establishment of a primary care optometry needlestick injury policy, contractual agreement over fees and value for money, and training and support for the primary care optometry providers.