Electronic Eyecare Referral and Image Sharing Systems (additional funding)

In December 2021 we confirmed that we would make additional national revenue funding available in FY21/22 for the continuation of Electronic Eyecare Referral and Image Sharing systems (EeRS) licences across ICSs that are live or imminently going live. This funding applies to the ICSs that have already signed or are about to sign contracts to implement EeRS and is not intended to provide national funding for any ICSs outside of the original cohort.

The national funding consists of £2.89 million in FY21/22 for EeRS licence extensions and £1 million in FY22/23 for implementation support, for example training, to ensure delivery.

This extension to the existing funding takes into account the fact that we estimate it will take 18 months for a strategic national solution to become available for widespread use in the primary eye care sector. Our evidence shows a 10% reduction in outpatient attendances is possible when implemented with minimal or no local commissioning changes and more when implementation is accompanied by local commissioning of extended primary eye care services.

These goals are more important than ever in the context of the National Eye Care Recovery and Transformation Programme. We have been working closely with stakeholders in the optical sector in order to continue the momentum and business change that they have worked hard to achieve.