PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Care Homes: Ophthalmic Services (1 June 2022)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing the requirement for pre-visit notifications for domiciliary eyecare visits to care homes to ensure that the care people receive in residential care homes is in line with that received by people in their own homes or attending a high-street optician.

Asked by:
Marsha De Cordova (Labour)

The current regulatory framework for domiciliary eye care services requires contractors to provide at least 48 hours’ notice to NHS England of the intention to provide National Health Service sight testing services to two patients at the same address and at least three weeks’ notice where contractors intend to provide services to three or more patients. However, the current framework allows for contractors to see up to three additional urgent cases without notice on the day of a planned visit.

The Department and NHS England are in discussions with the eye care profession on whether there is a need to amend the legal framework for domiciliary services, including the potential review of pre-visit notifications.

Answered by:
Maria Caulfield (Conservative)
17 June 2022