RANZCO Navigating Change in Eye Health

As we move through the second half of 2024, rapid change is the dominant theme for RANZCO and indeed for almost all areas of eye care.

Internally, RANZCO has invested heavily in updating the College’s continuing professional development (CPD) ecosystem. Largely in response to sustained member feedback, and also motivated by changes from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and the Australian Medical Council (AMC), the new ecosystem has the unenviable task of turning complexity into a simple, intuitive, user-friendly system.

The approach to the new CPD system was based on human-centred design principles, and informed by extensive interviews with a range of RANZCO members. It will launch later this year. Along with the new CPD operating environment, work is being done to ensure the available resources meet both the learning needs of members and the requirements set by the regulators.

The regulators certainly loom large in setting the direction and speed of changes that are facing RANZCO, and all medical colleges. Fortuitously, ophthalmology is not immediately under the microscope, affording RANZCO the opportunity to observe the impact of coming changes, and how the College can best advocate to ensure patient safety, equity of service delivery, and training are not compromised.

RANZCO’S VISION 2030 AND BEYOND

Australia RANZCO’s Vision 2030 and beyond is another major driving force of change.¹ RANZCO has worked in consultation with the wider healthcare community to develop this strategy aimed at ensuring equitable service provision across Australia and beyond our borders. The plan covers six areas: workforce and training, service delivery, preventative healthcare, sustainability, global eye health, and Indigenous eye health.

In 2023, the Vision 2030 and beyond steering committee developed working groups to progress the aims of the strategy. Now at the implementation stage, RANZCO’s advocacy team and the respective working groups are working together, to run Collaborative Care workshops across Australia.

The first of these workshops, held in Melbourne in May, was led by the Paediatric Eye Healthcare Services Working Group, who facilitated discussion among stakeholders on three key issues relating to children’s eye health – advocacy, prevention and early intervention, and referral for sight and life-threatening conditions (‘red flags’). Among the 20 eye health care participants, we had good representation from ophthalmology, optometry, and orthoptics. A report, providing detailed feedback on outputs from the workshop and next steps, is now being finalised.

A second stakeholder workshop, held by the Glaucoma Collaborative Care Workshop took place in Sydney on 22 June. Further workshops are planned – the Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Collaborative Care Workshop in Melbourne on 10 August and a Screening and Referral Pathways for Diabetic Retinopathy Collaboration and Innovation Workshop scheduled for 17 August in Sydney. Workshops to engage stakeholders on Indigenous eye health, children’s vision screening, digital health, and cataracts are currently being developed.

New Zealand

With regard to implementation of Vision 2030 and beyond Aotearoa New Zealand,2 the plan covers seven areas: service delivery, workforce, Māori eye health, Pasifika eye health, sustainability, global eye health, and preventative eye health. A key advocacy success was the establishment this year of a National Eye Health Network.

Under the leadership of RANZCO’s Māori and Pasifika Health Committee (MPHC), the Te Tiriti o Waitangi Action Plan (TAP) was developed to improve Māori eye health in Aotearoa through creating a platform for trust and shared decision making.

Similarly, a Pasifika Action Plan (PAP) was developed in collaboration with Pasifika Medical Association (PMA), to address eye health inequities for Pasifika peoples.

Now at the implementation stage, in collaboration with Eye Health Aotearoa (EHA), RANZCO’s Vision 2030 and beyond steering committee is currently working on joint advocacy and communication activities. Activities will focus on prevention and early intervention of eye health conditions, including diabetic retinopathy, myopia, and keratoconus. Other priority issues identified include the need for high quality data and evidence to inform policies and programs, and strategies to address workforce shortages and gaps in service provision.

ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS

It would be remiss of me not to promote RANZCO’s Annual Scientific Congress, which is occurring in my hometown of Adelaide from 1–4 November this year. Building on the sustainability initiatives established in Perth in 2023, Adelaide will take things to the next level.

Along with a diverse range of international and local speakers, there are workshops on everything from international development to CPD, and more. The jam-packed days are evenly balanced with a robust social program.

With the opening of Congress coinciding with the start of Diwali, the Festival of Light, the welcome reception will be appropriately themed to match. I look forward to seeing you there.

Dr Grant Raymond MB BS FRANZCO FRACS is the President of RANZCO.

References

1. Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmology, Vision 2030 and beyond: RANZCO’s vision for Australia’s eye healthcare to 2030 and beyond, available at: ranzco.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/RANZCOVision- 2030-and-beyond-v2.pdf [accessed June 2024].
2. Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmology, Vision 2030 and beyond: RANZCO’s vision for Aotearoa New Zealand’s Eye Healthcare to 2030 and beyond, available at: ranzco.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Te- Kitenga-Vision-2030.pdf [accessed June 2024].