Opticians will be able to renew glasses, orthoptists carry out sight assessments. The offer of visual care is becoming more flexible.
The French ophthalmology offer will evolve. Ophthalmologists have long called for major changes in the healthcare system, particularly to reduce patient wait times.
In early 2015, the Minister of Health commissioned a report from the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (Igas). Dominique Voynet has just made his conclusions. Some measures are building a consensus between the government and the unions.
Restructuring the visual industry, such is the orientation of the two amendments announced by Marisol Touraine. They will be introduced in the bill to modernize the health system, examined in the Senate from September 14. They take up the recommendations of the report delivered by Dominique Voynet.
The alliance with orthoptists
The first measure should relieve part of the burden of ophthalmologists. This is the development of “assisted work”, that is to say the delegation of certain acts to orthoptists. The latter could thus carry out sight assessments or prescribe rehabilitation equipment. With this more harmonious distribution, the Minister of Health hopes to increase the number of consultations possible up to 35%.
On paper, the amendment seems promising, comments the National Union of Ophthalmologists of France (SNOF). “Generalizing ophthalmic-orthoptist cooperation is a major lever for meeting the current and future needs of the population in eye care”, comments Thierry Bour, its president. But his support is not without reservations: he calls for concrete measures to encourage the installation of orthoptists in sector 1 practices.
Too few interns
Marisol Touraine also wishes to develop the role of opticians by making the conditions for renewing and adapting glasses and lenses more flexible. But the ophthalmologist remains the referent, and Thierry Bour asks for guarantees. “We ask for serious supervision in order to avoid any risk for patients. Indeed, not all opticians have the reflex to warn the doctor in case of adaptation of a prescription, ”he explains.
These measures are not only intended to reduce waiting times – which can reach 368 days in some regions -, they also respond to repeated requests from SNOF. There remains one demand to be met: to increase the number of interns in this specialty, to compensate for retirements. Marisol Touraine has certainly increased this number to 150 in 2014. But that still does not catch up with the 240 annual departures.
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