Stafford and Cannock Primary Eyecare Assessment and Treatment (PEATS) Service - 30/03/2015 at Staffordshire Local Optical Committee

Stafford and Cannock Primary Eyecare Assessment and Treatment (PEATS) Service - 30/03/2015

Sunday, 29th March, 2015

 

TO: All Optical Contractors and Performers Practising in Stafford & Surrounds and Cannock Chase CCG Areas

 

Dear colleagues,

 

As many of you know, Primary Eyecare (Shropshire & Staffordshire) Ltd (SAS PEC) presented a bid for a Primary Eyecare Assessment and Treatment Service (PEATS) pilot on 13 January, in response to notice of a tender for the service by Stafford & Surrounds (SAS) and Cannock Chase (CC) CCGs.  I’m pleased to advise you that SAS PEC has been confirmed as the preferred provider for the pilot, which is scheduled to run for 18 months, and which the company hopes to launch in the early summer.

 

In common with PEARS-type schemes elsewhere, the PEATS service will provide appropriate triaging of both acute and non-acute referrals by trained and accredited community optometrists based in convenient high street practice locations.  In addition, it is anticipated that the service will enable the treatment of minor eye conditions such as conjunctivitis, blepharitis and dry eye, together with minor procedures such as corneal and subtarsal foreign body removal and eyelash epilation.

 

All optometrists practising in Stafford and Cannock CCG areas are warmly invited to take part in the scheme.  In order to participate, you will be required to complete the WOPEC PEARS Part A (distance learning exercises) and Part B (OSCEs/practical assessment) training and accreditation, if you have not already done so.  Staffordshire LOC will pay training costs for all optometrists who wish to take part and will organise a Staffordshire PEARS Part B OSCEs event in the very near future.  If you have yet to complete the WOPEC PEARS training, please contact Alison at the LOC office who will provide you with a log-in to the WOPEC website’s distance learning material.  You will be allowed 8 weeks to complete the Part A distance learning, so as soon as you have received your log-in details you had better get cracking, as you will not be allowed to attend the Part B practical assessments until you have successfully completed the Part A exercises!

 

I would urge all of you to take up this opportunity.  The success of the PEATS service will depend not least upon a high level of uptake by optometry practices across the whole of Stafford and Cannock CCG areas, so that it can be easily accessed by as many patients as possible.  By demonstrating our high standards of clinical skills and knowledge, cost-effectiveness and patient satisfaction to the commissioners, then the hope is that the optometry model can be sustained long beyond the 18 months’ life of the pilot.  As SAS PEC’s clinical governance and performance lead for PEARS/PEATS, my responsibility will be to provide clinical leadership and oversee the service delivery, so you will be seeing a lot more of me from now on! 

 

Please note that there will be some other areas of governance which will need to be completed by participating contractors and performers for all three of the new services - PEATS, Glaucoma Referral Refinement (GRR) and Paediatrics.  SAS PEC will be contacting you shortly with further information.

 

So, if you would like to take part in the PEATS service, but you haven’t yet started the WOPEC PEARS modules, please contact Alison at the LOC office for your log-in code as soon as possible.  If you have any questions for me, again please contact Alison and she will forward them to me.

 

Thank you for your interest and support and I look forward to helping you.

 

Kind regards,

Mark

Mark McCracken MCOptom DipTp (AS) DipTp (IP)
Clinical Governance and Performance Lead (PEARS/PEATS/Acute)

Primary Eyecare (Shropshire & Staffordshire) Ltd

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