Classification: Official
Publication reference: PRN01825 

To:

• Regional single points of contact for dental and optometry

cc. 

• To be cascaded on to integrated care boards (ICBs)

Dear colleagues,

Update for commissioners on sight testing and dental checks within special educational settings (SES)

I am writing to provide an update on the next steps for sight testing and dental checks within special educational settings (SES) and to share important information and documentation to support systems to put in place local commissioning arrangements.

We wrote to commissioners in October 2024 and provided copies of the draft specifications to enable commissioners to have early sight of the documentation and to help with forward planning. Following consultation on the required regulatory changes and confirmation of the SES sight testing fee being published in Directions in December 2024, we have now finalised both specifications and they have been published on the NHS England website. The service specifications have been updated and now include quality improvement indicators.

We are also establishing a process for ongoing reporting of procured and planned services which we will update on further shortly.

Procurement support

As detailed in our last communication we have held a series of school and market engagement events. In addition to these events a dedicated session for suppliers was held that provided a basic knowledge of the public sector regulations and an overview of the procurement process. As promised, we have worked with our commercial team colleagues to produce the attached engagement report which includes information gathered from both the school and potential providers of services along with the recommended routes to procurement. We have also attached a list of the SES which sit within each ICB along with a list of all those who, to date, have expressed interest in receiving the service. As a reminder, the sight testing offer is for all day and residential SES and dental checks are limited to residential SES only.

Model contract

A bespoke general ophthalmic additional services model contract for SES template has been published alongside all other model contracts and contract variations on the NHS England website. This contract is to be used for all contracts commissioned under the new service. Any existing proof-of-concept contracts will need to be terminated in line with the relevant clauses once the new service has been commissioned. Commissioners will be required to manage all SES contracts, including processing contract variations and addressing contractor queries, and will approve claim requests for second pairs. Repairs and replacements for over-16s will require pre-authorisations from NHS Business Service Authority (NHSBSA), as per the GOS 4 process. Further details are available on the NHSBSA website.

Financial allocations

For ICBs taking part in the Proof of Concept (POC) pilot for sight testing in SES during 24/25, allocations will be made in Month 12. This will be based on actual spend in 24/25.

Allocations for the full roll out of sight testing in SES will be made for the financial year 25/26 at the earliest opportunity. All ICBs will receive an allocation in proportion to the SES pupil capacity within their ICB and these are included in Appendix A for reference. It is assumed that sight test uptake in each school will be 80% of the total capacity. These changes will be made recurrently in POD allocations.

Allocations for dental checks in SES for 25/26 will be made to all ICBs at the earliest opportunity. The allocations will be the same as 24/25 and these are included in Appendix B for reference. These changes will be made recurrently in POD allocations.

If you have any questions or queries regarding sight testing or dental checks do not hesitate to contact england.dentaloptoms@nhs.net.

Yours sincerely,

Ali Sparke, Director for Dentistry, Community Pharmacy and Optometry, NHS England

Appendix A

Allocation for sight testing in SES 25/26

Appendix B

Allocation for dental checks in SES 25/26