Specsavers champions expansion of community eye and hearing services at party conferences

Specsavers champions expansion of community eye and hearing services at party conferences

Specsavers has used this autumn’s political party conferences to call for greater use of community eye and hearing services, highlighting the benefits for patients, high streets and the wider economy.

Chancellor John Healey was among the ministers, shadow ministers, MPs, councillors and delegates who engaged with Specsavers clinicians and policy experts as they made the case for improving access to eye and hearing care closer to home.

‘Party conferences are a valuable opportunity to show policymakers what community eye and hearing professionals already deliver, and how we are ready and able to do more,’ says Giles Edmonds, clinical services director at Specsavers.

‘Our expert team did a brilliant job of demonstrating that. We also met health ministers from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. We made the positive case for making greater use of primary care eye and hearing expertise to improve access to care, support high streets and the economy.’

At the Labour and Conservative party conferences, Specsavers also hosted an exhibition stand where its expert optometrists and audiologists delivered more than 1,500 eye and hearing checks.

Using equipment including an OCT machine and digital otoscope, the team carried out assessments throughout the conferences, with several attendees referred for further investigation after potential issues were identified.

Mr Edmonds adds: ‘Delivering more than 1,500 checks provided a practical demonstration of what community eye and hearing professionals do every day. Our interactive map was another powerful talking point with MPs, highlighting the postcode lottery in access to community services, even between neighbouring constituencies.’

Alongside the exhibition stands, Specsavers representatives met parliamentarians, think tanks and other organisations, and contributed to fringe events attended by senior politicians and journalists to discuss how community eye and hearing services can help improve access to care.

Specsavers also sponsored a fringe event at the Labour Party conference, bringing together health leaders and parliamentarians to discuss access to care. Speakers included Lord Victor Adebowale, chair of the NHS Alliance; Baroness Clare Gerada, GP and former president of the Royal College of General Practitioners; Scottish Labour deputy leader and Shadow Health and Care Secretary Jackie Baillie MSP and Mr Edmonds.

Mr Edmonds also joined an NHS Alliance-organised fringe event at the Conservative Party conference, exploring similar themes.

Reflecting on the autumn party conferences and the need to continue raising awareness of the expertise on our high streets, Mr Edmonds concludes: ‘Politicians have an opportunity to improve access for patients, strengthen local high streets and deliver wider benefits for the health service and economy by backing the expansion of community eye and hearing services.

‘Specsavers experts are ready to help, and we look forward to continuing these conversations with policymakers in the months ahead.’