Health Bill

moved Amendment No. 90:"Page 31, line 9, at end insert—" ““(   )   a primary acute referral service for the diagnosis and treatment by optometrists of self-referred patients,”” The noble Earl said: We move to Chapter 2 of Part 4, which deals with ophthalmic services. Amendment No. 90 is an attempt to take a leaf out of the book of the Welsh NHS. In Wales, the primary eye care acute referral service, known as PEARS, has proved its worth by making services more accessible to patients, reducing pressure on GPs and preventing unnecessary referrals to A&E or hospital eye departments. It has also had the added benefit of improving the quality of referrals into secondary care, ensuring that they are appropriate. PEARS works by allowing patients to self-refer to an optometrist, or to be referred by their GP, for problems such as red eye, flashes and floaters, sudden loss of vision or the onset of sudden ocular pain. On the whole, GPs do not have the diagnostic equipment or specialist skills to examine eyes in the same way as an optometrist, so this scheme works well for all concerned. I am aware of some PCT areas in England, such as North Staffordshire and West Surrey, where optometrists are effectively taking the lead in diagnosing and treating patients with eye conditions. But those are only local schemes. It would seem logical, and more equitable, to apply the principles adopted in Wales to the whole of England. That is what the amendment seeks to do, and I commend it to the Committee. I beg to move.