WGOS regulations laid before Senedd

The Welsh Government has today published the amending regulations to bring the WGOS reforms into effect on 20 October.

The new regulations and financial directions will give effect to the new WGOS fees and requirements.

The new five levels of WGOS will see significant new investment into the sector with fairer fees for clinical work and more work moving out of hospitals to community optical practices – all positive steps in meeting growing eye health need and taking some pressure off hospital services where unacceptable waits are leading to avoidable sight loss. Optometry Wales (OW), the Welsh Government and NHS Wales are to be congratulated on these achievements.

The changes will also introduce significant cuts in the most frequently used voucher values for children and adults on benefits, and the new requirement on contractors to make a pair of basic glasses available to patients issued with an optical voucher. The changes will reduce the voucher value in 99% of cases, which will inevitably affect quality for these patients and income for practices serving less affluent populations. The Welsh Government has, however, agreed to review voucher values for patients annually.

You can read the full explanatory memorandum, regulations and impact assessments at senedd.wales.