Question reference: S5W-36141
- Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 11 March 2021
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Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 March 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what value it places on the role of independent prescribing optometrists in the community and, in light of their role in treating people in their practices instead of in GP surgeries, accident and emergency departments and ophthalmology clinics, what it expects the future structure of the service will be.
Answer
Independent Prescriber (IP) community optometrists, as with all community optometry practice staff, are a key and valued part of the frontline NHS workforce and have significantly contributed to the safe management of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Twenty five percent of community optometrists now hold the IP qualification, meaning that they can prescribe and manage a wide range of eye conditions within their practices. Their role prevents the need for patients to access care and/or treatment elsewhere and supports the role of optometry as the first port of call for eye conditions within the community.
Sixteen IP optometrists in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Lothian, NHS Fife and NHS Grampian have just been accredited to manage lower risk glaucoma and treated ocular hypertension patients discharged from hospital, and this number will increase further as this service is rolled out across Scotland.
With unprecedented waiting times pressures in hospital eye services, the Scottish Government will work with stakeholders to consider further options to utilise IP optometrists to manage more patients in the community.