Dear Optometry profession,

WGOS is now live. Please note the following important points below regarding WGOS:

1. Patient signatures will be required on all NHS forms from Friday 20 October 2023. Forms without patient signatures will be returned by NWSSP to the Practice.

2. Prior to being able to deliver WGOS, the Practitioner must:
3. The new clinical fees and voucher values will come into effect from 20^thOctober. GOS 3 forms issued prior to 20 October 2023 will be claimed with the ‘old’ value. GOS 3 forms issued on and after 20 October 2023 will be claimed with the ‘new’ value.
4. All paper NHS forms must be submitted within a 3 month deadline.
5. WGOS1,2 and 3 will come into effect from Friday 20 October 2023. WGOS4 and WGOS5 will follow in due course.  In the meantime, please continue with the arrangements that you currently have with the Health Board around other enhanced services e.g. IP, data capture etc
6. Currently, there is only one directed question in WGOS1 required from 20 October 2023 around smoking cessation, please see the Optometry Wales email from 18 October 2023 for further details. Further guidance will be made available at:  Latest News for Professionals - NHS Wales

1. Complete the four Mandatory WGOS training hosted by HEIW on Y Ty Dysgu platform, and be EHEW accredited
2. All staff colleagues assisting in the delivery of WGOS must complete their mandatory training hosted by HEW on Y Ty Dysgu platform before any delegated functions relevant to WGOS 1 can be undertaken. 
3. Please note that this is an ongoing requirement and not just for date of implementation 

The WGOS Clinical manuals can be found here https://www.nhs.wales/sa/eye-care-wales/professionals/latest-news-for-professionals/wgos-pathways/wgos-service-manuals/

For further questions contact:

For listing: nwssp-primarycareservices@wales.nhs.uk

For education: heiw.optometry@wales.nhs.uk

For Optometry Wales: officemanager@optometrywales.com

The Eye Care Wales website has been updated.  Health and behaviour messaging resources, clinical manuals, webinar recordings, and Q&A sheets from the webinars are all hosted there. 

We look forward to this significant evolution in Primary Care Contractor Optometry and thank you for your services.