Rural Eye Care Access, Workforce Challenges and Opportunities: Perspectives of the Eye Health Workforce in Western Australia.

Objective: Rural residents face numerous barriers to accessing eye care services that contribute to disparities in eye health outcomes. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of the rural workforce on opportunities to improve patient access to eye care services, as well as understand the ways the workforce can be supported.

Setting: Regional, rural and remote Western Australia.

Design: A qualitative descriptive approach was taken. Maximum variation and snowball sampling were used, and semi-structured interviews were conducted until data saturation. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis.

Participants: Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted with six ophthalmologists, 10 optometrists and one non-clinician involved in delivering eye care services in rural Western Australia.

Results: Four major themes were identified. 'Access to care' pertained to barriers and facilitators of timely and appropriate eye care for rural residents. 'Need for collaborative care framework' between ophthalmology and optometry emerged as a key opportunity to decrease wait times and maximise efficiency of visiting services. 'Motivation to work in rural settings' and 'challenges of working in rural settings' suggested opportunities to support the workforce.

Conclusion: This study finds that continued support through financial, personal, and professional means is important for workforce retention and satisfaction among eye care service providers in rural Western Australia. Although collaborative care models currently exist, the extent of collaboration between practitioners varies considerably. Further research is required on developing innovative, scalable and sustainable models of care to meet the eye care needs in rural Australia.