03 October 2025

FODO member update – 3 October

This week:

• World Sight Day
• Extend medicines for optometrists and contact lens opticians
• Kinnock says optometrists are vital to neighbourhood health
• GOS statistics for Scotland published
• ‘Light Touch' approach to wet AMD treatment
• At a glance
• Health policy

World Sight Day

It's World Sight Day on 9 October. The IAPB, leading the event, invites all involved in eye care to #LoveYourEyes and help make the case for eye care that is accessible, available, and affordable for everyone, everywhere. If you have an event or social media campaign planned, Clarity would love to hear from you - email [email protected]. 

Extend medicines for optometrists and contact lens opticians

A reminder that the DHSC is consulting on extending the range of medicines that can be sold or supplied and, in some cases, administered by optometrists and contact lens opticians across the UK, so that they can treat a broader range of minor eye conditions in the community.

To support the consultation process, sector bodies will be running a webinar. ABDO is kindly coordinating and hosting the event, which is open to all. It takes place on 8 October from 7pm to 8pm. Register for the event. 

Kinnock says optometrists are vital to neighbourhood health

Sector leaders welcomed health minister Stephen Kinnock's acknowledgement that optometrists are "an absolutely vital part of the neighbourhood health service".

Mr Kinnock recognised the importance of community optometry's role in the NHS's shift towards community-based care during a session at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. Learn more @Clarity. 

GOS statistics for Scotland published

Public Health Scotland has published Scottish GOS statistics for the year ending March 2025.

Key highlights:

• 2.44 million episodes in primary eye care. 1.75 million of which were primary eye examinations (sight tests in the rest of the UK) and the rest supplementary eye examinations (enhanced eye care in the rest of the UK). There were approximately 61,000 domiciliary visits, remaining consistent over many years at about 2.5% of all eye exams.
• The proportion of the population receiving a primary eye examination was 29% in SIMD 1 (the most deprived) and 34.4% in SIMD 5 (the least deprived).
• As expected, refractive error or binocular vision anomaly was the most commonly recorded issue (N=991,598). Other conditions included cataracts (N=520,600), external eye diseases (N=319,553), glaucoma/ocular hypertension (N=52,711) and macular problems (N=140,564).
• 1.2 million self-referred to their optometrist.
• Primary eye care providers managed 93.4% of patients. The number of referrals to hospital increased from around 21,500 patients in 2006-07 to over 116,500 in 2024-25, which correlates with the number of eye examinations. Referrals to a GP have declined over the same period from 45,000 to less than 24,000.

'Light Touch' approach to wet AMD treatment

A clinical trial is under way at Moorfields to explore whether a new 'light-touch' treatment can successfully treat patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) with fewer injections.

Roche funded the trial, which has produced treatments for wet AMD, and if successful, could help the hospital eye service better manage capacity and reduce the costs associated with existing treatments.

Read more 

At a glance

• College of Optometrists updates CMGs on conjunctival scarring, corneal hydrops, ectropion and entropion
• Congratulations to Dr Cindy Tromans, UK optometrist, who is now president of the World Council of Optometry. Read more
• EssilorLuxottica completes acquisition of Optegra. Read more
• College of Optometrists opens nominations for the President's Research Medal
• Eye news UK reports on Sickle Cell Retinopathy Network and a semi-automated algorithm for identifying glaucoma patients with blindness
• Haag-Streit slit lamp imaging 2025 competition winners announced

Health policy

• England: The government is seeking evidence and views primarily from healthcare organisations and those with expertise in workforce planning to inform the development of the 10 Year Workforce Plan. FODO will work with members and sector partners to respond to this consultation on your behalf. If you would like to be involved, email [email protected].
• Health regulators have published their annual whistleblowing disclosures report. The GOC reports 32 disclosures between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025; 10 cases were closed with no further action taken. The report provides a more detailed breakdown of the status of the other 22 disclosures and the GOC's reflections on how the system is working.
• A Specsavers-sponsored fringe at the Labour party conference in Liverpool - A vision for the NHS: Optometry's role in the NHS 10 Year Plan - included the NHS Confederation and MPs. Giles Edmonds, clinical services director at Specsavers, told the fringe that optometrists in primary eye care had the skills, capacity and infrastructure to help the NHS meet needs in a sustainable way. Stephen Kinnock briefly attended an AOP-sponsored fringe, while the AOP CEO said the minister's speech at the event was "slightly disappointing". However, Mr Kinnock did mention the role of optometry at other fringe events (main story above).
• Also, at the Labour Party conference, Keir Starmer announced plans for NHS Online, a "completely digital NHS trust". The government hopes the service, accessed through the NHS app, will offer more than eight million appointments in the three years after its launch in 2027. Meanwhile, Wes Streeting told the conference that Labour was committed to a public health service, free at the point of use, an NHS "back on its feet" and "fit for the future".
• Earlier in the week, the British Medical Association threatened to renew industrial action over a change in the GP contract that requires practices to keep their online booking systems open all day from 1 October. The BMA says that without safeguards, the system could risk patient safety by creating "hospital-style waiting lists in general practice", The Guardian reported.
• The Health Foundation analyses the government's record on the health system so far, reviewing its pledge to treat 92% of people within 18 weeks by the end of the parliament, in a report entitled 'One year on: is the government on track to meet its waiting times pledge?'
• PSA has published a report aimed at strengthening fitness-to-practice decisions. Read more.
• HSJ reports that there is no longer a rush to transfer NHS England staff, as the abolition is facing a delay.
• BBC reports that Wes Streeting has ruled out introducing VAT on private healthcare at the forthcoming Budget.
• NICE confirms intention to accelerate access to innovation across the NHS. Read more.
• DHSC announces new commission to help accelerate NHS use of AI.