FODO member update – 9 October
This week:
- Happy World Sight Day!
- Vision Care launches Right to Sight Week
- Westminster panel debates eye care innovation
- Welsh waiting times
- Smart glasses exclusions unhelpful for visually impaired
- At a glance
- Health policy news
Happy World Sight Day!
Yesterday was World Sight Day, an opportunity for practice teams to promote the children’s eye health campaign that FODO supports.
New analysis of UK data reveals that 95% of children aged five and under did not have an eye test in 2025. Furthermore, 38% of parents believe that children must be able to read before they can have an eye test.
The campaign aims to increase parents’ awareness of the importance of taking children for an eye test before they start school.
Sarah Joyce, FODO chair, said: “We need to ensure that parents are aware they should take children for regular eye tests and not to wait for signs of any issues, otherwise we systematically miss a large proportion of the children who would benefit from detection.”
Read more in Clarity and find the official assets on the College website here.
Vision Care launches Right to Sight Week
Vision Care, which provides eye care to people affected by homelessness, has combined World Sight Day and World Homeless Day into a new campaign to highlight the barriers to care and drive change.
The Right to Sight Week campaign has three main aims: to raise awareness of inequalities in access to eye care, provide eye care in community hubs where people feel safe, and campaign to ensure housing status does not affect access to care.
The charity’s forthcoming Partner Opticians programme will invite practices to join its network through training designed to improve their understanding of homelessness and build constructive relationships with housing and support services.
Read more in Clarity.
Westminster panel debates eye care innovation
Fight for Sight, which invests in the science behind understanding and treating vision loss, focused on retinal imaging and AI at this year’s Vis-Ability conference in Westminster.
The panel included optometrist Shockat Adam MP and discussed opportunities to study systemic health through retinal imaging, the only non-invasive way to view blood vessels and neural tissues in real time.
Welsh waiting times
The Welsh government has released the latest figures on hospital eye care waiting times.
They show that, of 157,835 patient pathways classified as R1 (at risk of irreversible harm or significant adverse outcome if not seen within target times), 49.7% were waiting within their target date or 25% beyond it in August 2026.
Smart glasses exclusions unhelpful for visually impaired
People with vision impairment are being disproportionately affected by restrictions on smart glasses in some venues, especially those who rely on voice technology to navigate their surroundings, the BBC reports.
The glasses are banned in courtrooms and some schools, restaurants, cinemas and theatres over concerns about their built-in cameras being used secretly. However, the RNIB says the unintended consequences can result in blind and partially sighted people who use them feeling less safe and excluded from certain activities.
At a glance:
- The GOC discussed the key findings of its review into commercial practices, planned CPD changes and plans to review the Standards for Optical Businesses at its latest council meeting. Read more.
- The Royal College of Ophthalmologists responds to local instructions to departments to increase the number of patients booked into clinics.
- ABDO has launched an October campaign to educate the public about safe contact lens wear. Read more.
- The NHS has awarded SeeAbility a contract to offer eye care to every special school across London and South East England. Read more.
- Hakim Group gathered industry experts and independent partners in Nottingham at its annual Share, Progress & Achieve (SPA) event. Read more.
- Aston University’s School of Optometry will trial Blink Frames smart eyewear, which continuously monitors eye health through spectacle frames. Read more.
- The Ophthalmologist magazine explores the challenges and successes of a community-based eye clinic in North London.
Health policy news:
After a Labour conference dominated by discussion about social care and the NHS, health did not top the Conservative conference agenda in Birmingham last week.
In his keynote speech, shadow health secretary Damian Hinds focused on technology’s potential role in the health service, arguing that the NHS must seize the opportunities offered by AI, with patient safety, data security and frontline experience guiding how new technologies are introduced.
He also said that the Conservatives would encourage healthcare partnerships across the public, private, independent and not-for-profit sectors.
Both conferences covered the importance of investing in prevention, AI’s role in healthcare and the impact of business rates on high street revival.