A new partnership will help to attract more Welsh doctors to specialise in ophthalmology, as well as support the training of optometrists, nurses and other key eye health clinicians.
The alliance between eye surgery provider Newmedica and Cardiff University comes as part of a commitment by the two organisations to provide enhanced training in secondary eye care roles, to help address recruitment shortages in a system further stretched by ever-increasing patient demand and growing waiting lists.
Together, they also aim to meet the urgent need to address pressures with patients at risk of sight loss due to delayed care.
Through the partnership, Cardiff University will continue delivering its established academic programmes while working with Newmedica to deliver new, practice-based training opportunities to satisfy qualification requirements and offer broader professional development. This includes providing clinical placements across outpatient and surgical settings, including rotations and internships for postgraduate trainees and pre-registration optometry students, as well as more specialist training in areas such as glaucoma management, laser procedures and surgical skills. In time, there will also be further training opportunities for nurses, scrub practitioners, advanced optometrists and healthcare managers that will ensure benefits for the entire eye health sector.
The partnership is firmly focused on developing a pipeline of future clinicians, while also upskilling current professionals to ensure the long-term sustainability of eye care provision in Wales.
Professor Joy Myint, Head of School and Professor of Optometry at Cardiff University's School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, said: "For students, it creates more placements to enable more people to qualify, while also offering enhanced access to diverse clinical environments and career development opportunities. For the wider healthcare system, it represents a meaningful step towards reducing waiting times, improving patient outcomes and strengthening resilience in eye care services through a combined focus on innovation. We are delighted to be working with Newmedica on this initiative."
Newmedica is one of the largest independent providers of NHS and private ophthalmology services in England. It has a number of clinics close to the Welsh border and is already working with NHS Wales to bring down waiting lists, having seen 13,000 Welsh patients in the last year.
Doug Perkins CBE, founder of Specsavers and Newmedica and a Cardiff University alumnus, said: "We are completely committed to doing whatever we can to support eye health in Wales. Through our network of 56 Specsavers stores, alongside Newmedica, we feel that we are uniquely well-placed to meet the needs of the Welsh people and to support the government's mandate to future-proof NHS Wales.
"We believe that through this joined-up service we can help Health Boards develop solutions that allow ophthalmologists and optometrists to work across boundaries, building a Welsh workforce that is committed to the long-term eye health needs of Welsh people - so keeping business in Wales, supporting the Welsh health economy with less need to rely on short-term fixes."
Newmedica' s Medical Director, Ophthalmologist Nigel Kirkpatrick continued: 'Training will initially be delivered in Newmedica clinics, expanding the "teach and treat" model Cardiff University already adopts, enabling students to gain hands-on experience while contributing to patient care under expert supervision. This approach ensures that training is closely aligned to real-world demand and service delivery, benefitting both learners and patients."
