The MP for Northampton spoke to the team about the NHS services provided by the locally owned and run store on Weedon Road. During the visit he also heard about the lack of an NHS community urgent eye care service in Northamptonshire. Northamptonshire is one of only five areas in England that does not have access to such a service, which providers treatment for urgent eye problems like flashes, floaters, vision loss or minor eye injuries through local optometry practices. The store team also spoke about the recent decision by Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), which commissions local NHS provision, to end community-based glaucoma and pre-cataract services provided through local opticians.
‘It was interesting to learn about the level of expertise and care provided by the store’s optometrists and audiologists in delivering important hearing and eye health services. As well as looking after the local community’s health, the store is providing valuable jobs in health care and retail, and investing in training local people,’ says Mr Reader.
‘I was concerned to hear that Northamptonshire is falling behind the rest of the country by not having a community urgent eye care service available through local opticians. This puts pressure on already stretched GP and hospital services and risks making accessing important NHS services more difficult for patients. Recent changes to glaucoma services risk making the situation even worse. I will do my part to support Northampton and speak to the ICB to raise my concerns.’
Jude Edwards, optometrist director, says: ‘It was great to welcome our local MP to our store. It was an opportunity to talk about the important role of community optometrists and audiologists within the NHS. We’re an important part of primary care and proud to serve our community. We stand ready to do even more to provide important NHS services to the community.’
Specsavers has more than 1,000 stores throughout the UK and is the leading provider of NHS primary care optometry services – testing more than 20 million eyes every year. It also provides more than 40% of NHS community audiology services in England, supporting more than 200,000 NHS audiology customers a year.