22 September 2025

Primary eye care: Standing by to deliver the 10 Year Health Plan

Leading primary eye care organisations announce that they will help the NHS deliver its 10 Year Health Plan.

The Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee (OFNC) and The College of Optometrists fully support the government's mission to tackle inequalities in access to care and outcomes for all patients in England. To deliver the 10 Year Health Plan in eye care, we commit to helping the NHS:

• Shift outpatient eye care from hospital to the community

• Prevent sight loss and its impacts

• Make the full transition from analogue to digital

To do this, we will work with the NHS to:    

• Promote the benefits of the NHS national sight testing service - this underpins the nation's eye health, contributing to economic growth through good vision and preventing eye disease through early identification and intervention in the most equitable and cost-effective way for the NHS

• Develop national commissioning frameworks for all enhanced eye care services - to shift care out of hospital and help end the postcode lottery and inequalities patients currently suffer

• Bring together leading subject matter experts and providers to shift from analogue to digital - embrace innovation to improve to access to care and prevent sight loss.

In all we do we will make the case for rebalancing NHS expenditure and correcting the underinvestment in NHS primary eye care services. Without sustainable funding for these services, people will continue to suffer from avoidable harms due to over reliance on inefficient hospital models of care. This will include appropriate funding for the NHS eye testing service, enhanced services and IT solutions so that it is possible for practices to meet local needs.

With the right funding models, we will be able to empower the optometrists and dispensing opticians who are already a fundamental part of neighbourhoods and communities across England.  Primary eye care practices already have the infrastructure and clinicians with the core clinical skills to treat more patients outside hospital and prevent avoidable sight loss caused by delays in hospital care. By delivering more eye care services on the high street or in patients' homes, we can meet patients' eye care needs more rapidly and in a more personalised way and ensure that people go to hospital only when they absolutely need to. This will be better for patients and better for the NHS and taxpayers.

Notes to editors

As leading national bodies for eye care, our members:    

• believe in preserving and optimising sight and preventing avoidable sight loss for all

• deliver all NHS primary eye care including the essential national sight-testing, eye examination and vision correction service

• have the skills and capacity to treat more patients and help reduce hospital waiting lists, if more eye care services were funded in primary care

• have the clinical teams and infrastructure in place in all communities to deliver the government's three shifts now for the benefit of patients and the wider NHS

• are keen to help the NHS and government make best use of this available capacity to meet growing need in a sustainable way and end avoidable sight loss due to long waits for hospital care.

The College of Optometrists is the professional body for optometry. It is the sector lead on evidence-based guidance and champions the profession, defines best clinical practice, and enables optometrists to develop through high-quality training and qualifications. The College also invests in research and education and actively educates and advises the public. Contact [email protected]    

The Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee (OFNC) is the national negotiating body for eye care in England with the Westminster Parliament, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England. It comprises the leaders of the UK representative bodies: ABDO, AOP, FODO and BMA (for OMPs) and works in partnerships with the College of Optometrists and the General Optical Council.

The memberships across our organisations hold the key to delivering the government's aims for the NHS in eye care and delivering a wider range of world-class eye care services for all within this Parliament.