The College of Optometrists champions eye health at party conferences

In Liverpool, discussion centred around the three key shifts in the NHS 10-Year Health Plan:

• from hospital to community care
• from analogue to digital
• from sickness to prevention

There was a clear message from the government on the importance of these three shifts, and that a change in culture and mindset across the NHS in England will be needed to achieve them. There was also overt support for care and funding to move from hospitals and the acute sector to the community and primary care.

Organisations representing patients and health care professionals were united in responding that a shift in care to community won’t happen without funding, the need to share responsibility across primary and secondary care providers, and better working in multidisciplinary teams. While we wait for more detail on implementation of the plan, the College and the optometric profession stand ready to help make it a reality.

We have built good links with Stephen Kinnock MP, the minister responsible for primary care, and were encouraged to hear him championing the role of optometrists at a fringe event, as well as the importance of extending medicines exemptions for optometrists and empowering systems to make changes that work at a local level.

Stephen Kinnock MP, Minister of State for Care said: “Optometry is absolutely a vital part of the neighbourhood health service.”

We attended an event hosted by the Association of Optometrists “Health on every High Street” which focused on expanding community-based services and dismantling the barriers to NHS care. Another key event on the programme this year was “A vision for the NHS: Optometry’s role in the NHS 10-Year Plan”. Speakers included Dr Simon Opher, MP for Stroud, Irene Campbell, MP for North Ayrshire and Arran, and Giles Edmonds, Clinical Services Director at Specsavers.

The panel argued that optometrists already have the skills and capacity to reduce waiting lists and manage early diagnosis in the community, leaving hospitals to focus on complex cases. The challenges were recognised as national commissioning gaps, a lack of a consistent framework, and uneven collaboration between primary and secondary care, which prevent wider adoption. Dr Simon Opher emphasised that GPs often lacked specialist knowledge of eye care, while optometrists were better equipped to deliver community-based specialist services.