ON THE GROUND AT THE AOP

Communications

AN EXPLAINER ON… ENGAGING WITH MPS

There is a crisis in primary care. A lot of work is being done to improve integration between primary and community care, and there is a lot of focus on dentistry and GPs, but not enough emphasis being put on optometry.

The membership of the AOP is the most important aspect of why we come to work every day – to represent the optometrists working within the UK. Ultimately, we want to raise the profile of their work within the primary care network. We feel that we are in the position to be the first port of call for ministers and policy makers, to provide intel on what optometrists in the UK are really feeling.

Profile-raising

We’ve been working to engage political stakeholders in all the campaigns the AOP has been running. For example, with our Sight for SEN campaign, raising awareness of the need for a long-term commitment to the Special School’s Eye Care Service, we wrote to every MP who has a special school in receipt of the service in their constituency, as well as any relevant health ministers and shadow ministers to bring awareness to the scheme. We contacted 37 MPs in total and took a very individualised approach to each letter we sent, including specific information about their constituency, and we achieved a great impact.

NAME:

Freya Stenton

ROLE:

AOP external affairs officer

By the end of autumn, we will have attended three party conferences: Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrats.

We wrote to more than 100 MPs inviting them to meet with us at the conferences to discuss our Sight Won’t Wait campaign, and three

‘quick wins’ that the next Government could achieve to help reduce ophthalmology backlogs. These proposed quick wins include: greater IT connectivity between primary and secondary care, increasing the diagnostic role of optometrists in community care to reduce expanding NHS backlogs in ophthalmology, and elevating the prescribing powers of optometrists to alleviate pressure on GP services and secondary care.

On a daily basis we monitor critical debates, as well as oral and written questions that are submitted to government. We engage our current relationships with MPs to ask questions of ministers and government departments and put pressure on the health department to implement necessary changes to ensure optometrists are given the resources and funding they need to do the amazing work they do every day.

Local MPs

It’s easy for members to get in touch with their MP. Each Member of Parliament has their own website, and also has a profile on the UK Parliament website, which will outline their contact details and any roles they are currently undertaking in Parliament. Anyone who does not know their MP can type their postcode into the UK Parliament website to find their representative. It is also possible to see an MP’s voting record, either on their UK Parliament profile, or on the website www.theyworkforyou. com. This can be a great indication of whether they are representing your views.