FODO highlights comparisons in satisfaction levels across Primary Health Care

The King’s Fund think-tank has published Primary care services in a nutshell, noting optometrists are the ‘front door’ of the NHS. It reports that:

71% of patients were satisfied with their GP, compared to 93% being satisfied with their optometrist
There are 10 primary eye care practices per 100,000 people in England
Activity in primary care has returned to pre-pandemic levels, except for dentistry
£17.2 billion per year is spent on primary care services – 9.5% of the DHSC budget, although the proportion spent on primary care is shrinking. Of this figure, less than 3% is spent on primary eye care.

Harjit Sandhu, managing director at FODO, said: “Our members deliver most primary eye care, and we are incredibly proud that patient satisfaction has remained so high. This achievement is a testament to our members’ significant and sustained investment in the workforce and capital to ensure people do not suffer long waits for essential primary eye care services.”

He added: “As we set out in Principles and priorities for primary eye care, we are committed to ending avoidable sight loss due to delays in accessing hospital eye care services.

So, this year, we will launch a new public affairs initiative and call for IT connectivity between eye care services and make the case for expanding enhanced eye care to help meet growing needs in areas like glaucoma care.”