Assessment and treatment services for people with wet-AMD, which can cause swift sight loss, will be moved out of hospitals closer to people’s homes in some parts of Wales following a £400,000 investment by the Welsh Government.
Four pilot projects will be set up in Gwent, Cwm Taf, West Wales and Powys, to move assessment and treatment services out of hospitals – doctor-led services in outpatient departments and operating theatres – and into local communities, where they will be delivered by optometrists and nurses, overseen by an ophthalmologist.
The pilots will ensure people are seen more quickly closer to home and free up time for hospital-based ophthalmologists to manage patients with the most complex conditions.
The investment is part of the Welsh Government’s £40m primary care fund, which is aimed at reforming Wales’ primary care services to ensure the vast majority of NHS care is planned and provided in the community, closer to people’s homes.
Deputy Minister for Health, Vaughan Gething has also approved a £105,000 funding package to up-skill eye care professionals to deliver these and other new services. This will enable each of Wales’ health boards to fund a number of optometrists to study for university-level qualifications.
The Welsh Government’s primary care workforce plan sets out the importance of a skilled community workforce.
Vaughan Gething said:
“The investment I’m announcing today will, over time, see a significant transfer of services away from hospitals into local communities, making them more convenient for people to access and better able to provide the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
“The additional investment we are making in our staff will help extend the skills of optometrists and non-medical eye care professionals, ensuring they have the qualifications they need to deliver these services. This underlines our commitment to developing our staff to deliver high-quality care and treatment services.
“This will help free up doctors’ time and resources to concentrate on those people with complex conditions who need specialist intervention.”
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