Orthoptists will be able to prescribe glasses, ophthalmos see red – LCI

Despite numerous objections, the National Assembly voted Friday evening in favor of expanded activities for orthoptists, who will be able in particular to prescribe glasses, without consultation with an ophthalmologist.

The measure in article 40 of the 2022 budget of the Social Security is at the origin of a strike since Friday and until October 31 of ophthalmologists against what they see as a “degradation of the quality of care” with direct access to these paramedical professionals. The ophthalmologists, who display twelve years of medical studies against three for orthoptists, cry out at the risk to the health of their patients and refuse to give up their expertise for the benefit of the latter.

“The consultation has taken place since the end of March” and “we will be precise in the decree” of application on the age groups concerned – 16 to 42 years a priori – or the prescription of corrective glasses or lenses authorized for orthoptists, assured Minister Brigitte Bourguignon to the deputies.

Conversely, the government defends a measure capable of facilitating access to visual care for the French, given the waiting times for appointments with the ophthalmologist. Average waiting times were 80 days in 2018, with significant regional differences, according to government figures. But the Snof advances a more recent study showing delays in clear reduction.

We tried to make an appointment in Belfort, 50,000 inhabitants. There is no time slot before December 1st. For Loïc Callué, orthoptist in Dijon, this bill would be a solution to reduce delays and does not present any risk for patients. “In our training, we are taught to detect pathologies that there may be. And it is the ophthalmologists themselves who teach us. And we will also be redirected to the doctors if we realize that there is something thing.”

Later in the evening, the Assembly voted in favor of experimenting with direct, non-prescription access to physiotherapists and speech therapists working in a coordinated care structure. These experiments are to be held in six departments and for three years. This aims to facilitate care in areas where there are few doctors, these medical deserts that the government is struggling to address.