To ask the Minister of Health to detail any steps his Department takes to support community optometrists, given they are relied upon to manage patients with cataracts for extended periods before referral.

My Department is committed to making it easier for patients to access the care they need. Community optometry shows how services delivered closer to home can detect problems early, help to manage waiting lists, and ease pressure on hospitals, all while improving outcomes for patients.

It would not be an expectation that community optometrists are relied upon to manage patients with cataracts for extended periods before referral. When referral is clinically-indicated, and in the patient’s best interest, referral for specialist advice and treatment would be anticipated.

Through Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG) communications and protocols, “Guidance Notes for Community Optometrists” have been developed, shared, and hosted. These guidance and support protocols lay out best practice around level of vision, quality of life impacts and indications for referral, including any comorbidities. Driving status, caring and independent living needs and a discussion on the nature of surgery also helps to make an informed decision on referral.

Community optometrists are further supported by development of a cataract-specific electronic referral template into the encompass electronic patient system, and associated clinical decision-making aids hosted within that system.

As I take forward the Reset agenda, our priority is to build services that are sustainable, patient-centred and responsive to need. That means moving more care into the community where it can be delivered quickly and effectively. The main focus will be rebalancing the health and social care system so that care is delivered closer to home, hospitals are used for those who need them most, and services are planned for long-term sustainability. In Northern Ireland we have over 700 optometrists who are highly skilled, local, and ready to help with 95% of the population living less than 5 miles from a practice.

The Reset agenda also emphasises the importance of prevention and early intervention. With Northern Ireland’s ageing and rural population increasing demand for eyecare, community optometry has a crucial role to play. By putting in place strategies to improve access and uptake of HSC-funded eye examinations, though Universal Credit legislative reform, awareness-raising campaigns and initiatives such as #EyeCareWeCare, earlier case-finding and informed decision-making can help to manage both patient expectations and system demand.