Optometry Australia (OA) has called on the federal Government to support regular, comprehensive workforce mapping of optometry, saying the information is “critical to understanding where there are supply shortages and informing consideration of solutions”.

A report from Deloitte Access Economics, commissioned by Specsavers, has highlighted what it describes as a “pressing need to address the critical supply and distribution of optometrists throughout Australia to ensure the profession keeps pace with the growing and evolving eye care demand for services over the next 20 years”.

The Specsavers report stands in contrast to past OA workplace modelling, which has predicted a significant surplus of optometrists, even under high service demand scenarios. OA CEO Sky Cappuccio said there had been an increase in the number of optometry graduates since that modelling, in 2015, and called on the federal Government to assist with mapping more detailed data.

SPECSAVERS’ POST-COVID MODELLING

The latest Specsavers report forecasts a significant shortfall of optometrists of more than 1,110 optometrists across Australia in 2042. This represents an undersupply of more than 1.5 million clinical optometry hours, or approximately a 12% undersupply compared with the total hours of eye care that is forecast to be in demand by Australians by the same year.

Similar warnings were made by Specsavers its Optometry Workforce Report 2018–37, also prepared by Deloitte Access Economics, in 2018. Specsavers said the combined data demonstrated a “continued trend over time”.

Specsavers said the new report provides updated optometry workforce modelling post-COVID from 2022 to 2042, interpreting supply and demand trends, as well as considering alternative models of care to enhance the delivery of eye care and improve patient outcomes in Australia.

Specsavers said the report forecasts an undersupply of optometrists in both urban and rural areas over the projected period, from a starting point of equilibrium in both locations. The deficit in rural areas is most significant in 2042, with an approximate shortage of 799 full-time equivalent (FTE) optometrists.

In urban areas the shortage in supply is less significant, totalling 303 FTE optometrists in 2042. However, with both urban and rural areas forecasted to have a shortfall of optometrists, there would still be a significant shortfall across both areas even if urban optometrists were redistributed towards rural areas, the report said.

Specsavers Optometry Director Dr Ben Ashby said there was a “real need to address the shortages of optometrists in Australia, particularly in regional and rural areas”.

“Failure to do so could lead to significant challenges in accessing and delivering eye health care to the whole population. The cost of avoidable vision loss to the public health system runs into the billions of dollars, therefore ignoring the serious threat posed by a shortfall of optometrists will undoubtedly lead to an increased impact on the public health system and most importantly, the quality of life for all Australians through vision loss from undiagnosed or untreated eye conditions.”

NEED FOR WORKFORCE MAPPING

Responding to the report, Optometry Australia CEO Skye Cappuccio said OA had not commissioned a workforce projections study for several years.

“The last one, published in 2015, estimated a significant surplus of FTE optometrists by 2036, even under the highest service demand scenario modelled.

“However, contexts have significantly changed since then, including a significant increase in the number of universities graduating entry-level students and the number of students graduating annually.

“To help ensure an accurate understanding of workforce supply/demand, we need to be monitoring closely as it unfolds. To support this, we (call) on the federal Government to support regular, comprehensive workforce mapping.”

Ms Cappuccio said there were several indicators that could be used to assess workforce supply/ demand balance, including average salaries and capacity of new graduates to find work.

“Our biennial member survey suggests average salaries have stagnated and are increasing at a lower rate than CPI (the consumer price index). We provide support to high numbers of students each year who are considering their first employment contract as an optometrist and know that most graduates have contracts in place before graduating.”

She said feedback from graduates indicated it can often be hard to find employment in major cities, and as a result, in some states, more have been accepting opportunities in regional areas.

She said some regional areas across the country continue to have insufficient optometrists to meet community need or have problems attracting new optometrists when established optometrists retire or move on.

“It remains important to acknowledge that there remain areas of undersupply in some rural and regional settings.

“Anecdotal evidence suggests that in some States this problem is lessening. However, there is a lack of comprehensive, quality mapping of the optometry workforce.

“This information is critical to understanding where there are supply shortages and informing consideration of solutions. We have joined colleagues across non-medical health professions calling for the federal Government to invest in such mapping,” Ms Cappuccio said.

FUTURE MODELS OF CARE

While the Specsavers report forecast a shortfall in the supply of optometrists, it also looked at ways to enhance the delivery of eye care, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which created both challenges and new opportunities in the delivery of and access to healthcare across Australia.

It identified several opportunities, including enhancing the role of optometrists to upskill and fully utilise their skills sets in primary care settings, as well as investing in enablers to optimise access to eye care. This included investing in training, utilising technology such as teleoptometry to alleviate accessibility barriers, better data and information sharing platforms, as well as embedding patient support services into the patient care pathway.

Ms Cappuccio said OA “agrees with the argument made in the (Specsavers) report, that we need to ensure we are supporting optometrists to work to maximal scope of practice and ensure their full skill set is used to support patients and the community”.

“We also agree with the call to support further development of collaborative care models, support development and recognition of optometrists with advanced skills in particular areas, facilitate more effective use of telehealth and integration with digital health infrastructure, and more regular referral to patient support services.

“These are areas we too are actively pursuing.”