{"id":1747,"date":"2026-03-05T14:46:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T14:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/hampshire-loc\/?p=1747"},"modified":"2026-03-05T14:46:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T14:46:05","slug":"latest-news-from-hampshire-loc-03-march-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/hampshire-loc\/2026\/03\/05\/latest-news-from-hampshire-loc-03-march-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest News from Hampshire LOC 03 March 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Smoking Cessation Local Incentive Scheme for Optometry Practices: Expression of interest extended to 12 March 2026 &amp; Webinar Invite<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>(For Practices in the Hampshire County Council Region Only)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Hampshire County Council Public Health and the Hampshire &amp; Isle of Wight ICB are inviting\u00a0<strong>optometry practices within Hampshire County Council areas<\/strong>\u00a0to express their interest in a proposed Local Incentive Scheme designed to embed smoking\u2011cessation conversations and referrals into routine optical care.<\/p>\n<p>The deadline for submitting an Expression of Interest (EOI) has now been\u00a0<strong>extended to 12 March 2026<\/strong>. All practices are encouraged to complete the short form\u2014<strong>including those who may not wish to participate<\/strong>\u2014to help commissioners understand the level of interest and support planning for the next stage of development.<\/p>\n<p><strong>EOI Form:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/forms.office.com\/e\/Z4WSTePnWN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferer\">https:\/\/forms.office.com\/e\/Z4WSTePnWN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Why this matters for eye health<\/p>\n<p>Smoking remains one of the most significant modifiable risk factors for poor eye health, increasing the likelihood of conditions such as age\u2011related macular degeneration and cataracts. Optical practices are uniquely placed to initiate brief, meaningful conversations that can motivate patients to consider quitting.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed scheme aims to support practices to:<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\" data-position=\"outside\">\n<li>Increase uptake of Very Brief Advice (VBA) training among optical staff.<\/li>\n<li>Provide clear, supportive smokefree advice to patients who smoke.<\/li>\n<li>Refer patients directly to\u00a0<strong>Smokefree Hampshire<\/strong>, the local Stop Smoking Service.<\/li>\n<li>Use patient\u2011facing materials to raise awareness of smoking\u2019s impact on eye health and available cessation support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Webinars for Hampshire practices<\/p>\n<p>Hampshire County Council Public Health is hosting two short webinars\/drop\u2011in sessions for practices wishing to ask questions or learn more about the scheme:<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\" data-position=\"outside\">\n<li><strong>Friday 6 March, 12:30\u201313:00<\/strong><br \/>\nRegister:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/events.teams.microsoft.com\/event\/00e643cb-cb50-47e9-912b-51bb1b453cfb@3f81d8b5-ee07-4c17-869c-1db439018d9b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferer\">https:\/\/events.teams.microsoft.com\/event\/00e643cb-cb50-47e9-912b-51bb1b453cfb@3f81d8b5-ee07-4c17-869c-1db439018d9b<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Monday 9 March, 12:00\u201312:30<\/strong><br \/>\nRegister:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/events.teams.microsoft.com\/event\/cc486477-28d2-49fc-9046-5235caa899e4@3f81d8b5-ee07-4c17-869c-1db439018d9b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferer\">https:\/\/events.teams.microsoft.com\/event\/cc486477-28d2-49fc-9046-5235caa899e4@3f81d8b5-ee07-4c17-869c-1db439018d9b<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These sessions are open to\u00a0<strong>Hampshire County Council\u2013area practices only<\/strong>\u00a0and offer an opportunity to explore how the scheme could work in practice.<\/p>\n<p>Completing the EOI takes only a few minutes, and your feedback will play an important role in shaping a programme with real potential to improve eye\u2011health outcomes across Hampshire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Smoking Cessation Local Incentive Scheme for Optometry Practices: Expression of interest extended to 12 March 2026 &amp; Webinar Invite (For Practices in the Hampshire County Council Region Only) Hampshire County Council Public Health and the Hampshire &amp; Isle of Wight ICB are inviting\u00a0optometry practices within Hampshire County Council areas\u00a0to express their interest in a proposed &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/hampshire-loc\/2026\/03\/05\/latest-news-from-hampshire-loc-03-march-2026\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Latest News from Hampshire LOC 03 March 2026&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/hampshire-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/hampshire-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/hampshire-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/hampshire-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/hampshire-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/hampshire-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1748,"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/hampshire-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1747\/revisions\/1748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/hampshire-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/hampshire-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.loc-online.co.uk\/hampshire-loc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}