Shaping the future of eye care
Throughout the year, the College has demonstrated its unwavering commitment to advancing eye health policy, advocating for the profession, and working towards enhancing patient care across the UK, amid a year of political change and health service pressures.
Our members are increasingly working in multidisciplinary teams, and to ensure optometrists remain at the forefront of eye care provision, collaboration with other eye care organisations has been at the heart of our activity, increasing our reach, influence and voice to represent the profession.
Highlights from our collaborations include co-chairing a national working group on clinical imaging standards in eye care alongside the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. This initiative, supported by NHS England and
optical manufacturers, aims to establish UK-wide standards that will drive interoperability of digital systems, enhancing image sharing across all platforms. This will ensure more efficient patient referrals, and reduce delays in diagnosis and treatment. Additionally, we partnered with the RNIB to develop a Low Vision Framework that will enhance inclusive, patient-centred care for patients across the UK, and a new Eye Care Support Pathway that will result in improved care experiences for patients and their families.
The College also led a UK sector-wide multi-professional eye care workforce supply and demand data modelling project, culminating in an interactive dashboard, modelling the current and future workforce and the prevalence of eye conditions over the next 15 years. This will help commissioners better meet eye health needs, identify priorities for future workforce education, training and development, and support the development of new models of care.
Working directly with governments means that our voice is heard at the highest level. Earlier in the year, under the previous government, we responded to a Department of Health and Social Care request, endorsing a Standard Clinical Specification for community minor and urgent eye care in England, developed with LOCSU and the Clinical Council for Eye Health Commissioning. Ahead of the general election, we published our first-ever Manifesto for Change, calling for reforms to tackle the eye care crisis; and under the new government, the conversation continued with the new Secretary of State for Health.
As the professional body for optometrists, it is essential that we work for all our members across eye care services throughout the UK. We were delighted to accept the invitation to join the Welsh Optometric Committee (WOC), a statutory advisory body to the Welsh Government; we contributed to the Optometry NI strategic planning day; and we supported the Nationals Services Scotland (NSS) team in updating prescribing guidance for Scottish optometrists.
Many services and support however are only enabled by external budgets. In 2024, funding was withdrawn for optometrists working in Scotland to have access to Docet, free CPD for General Optical Council (GOC) registered optometrists, developed and delivered by the College. Our petitions to reverse this decision were unsuccessful, but we continue to offer our high quality College CPD to all of our Scottish members, and are resolved to maintain the channels of communication for future developments.
It has been a busy and eventful year. I am proud of all of our members who continue to strive for ever better patient care, and we, at the College, are committed to working for you and on your behalf to advance the profession and improve patient outcomes.
