Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 3:02 pm on 12 February 2020.
It's actually about investing across the whole system, as I'm sure the Member will be aware. This isn't simply about the consultant end of the service, it's actually about getting the right people to the different parts of the service. That's why our reform programme in the primary care end is really important. I did recently discuss these matters with the chief optometric adviser, and these are matters that I intend to take up with chairs and vice-chairs of health boards in my next round of meetings, because having decided to introduce the new eye care measures because they are more accurate and useful measures, I then want to see achievement against them.
Actually, without properly reforming the way that the system works, we won't see the sort of improvements that you and every other Member in this place would want to see. So, that is, then, about making sure that we have the availability within high-street optometry for different services so that those people don't, then, need to be on a consultant list. You can expect to see the consistent implementation of those pathways within this year, in place in every part of Wales—that's the expectation that I've set. That should, then, make better use of the capacity that exists in secondary care, and, actually, it would make our services more attractive, because consultant ophthalmologists themselves are people who can still choose where they wish to work. We need to address the whole workforce to deliver the sort of outcomes that you and I both want to see.