Help shape NHS eye care in England

The plan will set out how the government will build a health service that can cope with increasing demands on services due to the ageing population and the availability of new treatments that create growing capacity and financial pressures.

The government will focus on the three big shifts recommended in the recent Darzi review: moving care from hospital to community, transforming the NHS from analogue to digital, and focusing on prevention of sickness, rather than just treating it.

We want better recognition for optometrists who provide essential services. Eye care commissioners should make better use of primary care optometrists’ skills to provide more care closer to home and help reduce hospital waiting times. You can help shape the College’s response to the consultation and feed in directly as a health professional. Details on how to feed in and information to support you discussing eye care locally are below:

1. Help shape the College’s response with your views and experiences

The College will be responding to the consultation, and we would welcome your views and ideas to help us use this opportunity to shape the future of NHS eye care. We are inviting you to take part in a short questionnaire, and we will use your responses to inform our submission to the government. The survey should take 10-15 minutes to complete and will be open until 22 November 2024.

2. Feed in directly as a health professional

If you would like to share your experience and views directly with the government, you can do so directly at the Change NHS website.

3. Get involved locally

You can also get involved locally. Over the next month, the government will organise a series of events for people across the country to share their ideas and views. This includes a number of regional events with the public and health and care workers to hold more detailed discussions. ICSs will be asked to lead workshops to gather insights. Look out for information locally on how to get involved – we encourage you to attend if you can. 

The College of Optometrists has already urged the Department of Health and Social Care to prioritise eye health, and to establish optometrists as the first port of call for anyone with an eye care issue.

You can support our work to champion the central role optometrists can play in delivering safe and timely eye care to more patients closer to home, and help reduce the reliance on local GPs, cut NHS waiting times and enable more people to live independently in England.