Under pressure: the optometric workforce and an ageing population
In the third part of our series on ageing, Anna Scott discovers how older populations with poor eye health affect supply and demand in the optometry profession.
The UK population is living longer. The number of people aged 65 and over will increase by two million in the next 10 years to 22% of the population (Centre for Ageing Better, 2022 ). But they are not all ageing well.
The number of years we can expect to spend in good health without a disabling illness continues to decline – 62.0 years for men and 60.7 years for women in 2018-20, down by 0.7 and 1.2 years from 2015-17 (Office for National Statistics, 2022 ).
“Two-thirds of people in their 50s and 60s have a long-term health condition,” says Aideen Young, Senior Evidence Manager for Research, Impact and Voice at the Centre for Ageing Better. “The number of people living with disability is growing, and healthy life expectancy is falling.”
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Related further reading
The College of Optometrists and the Optical Fees Negotiating Committee (OFNC) call on the government to make a long-term commitment to primary eye care in its NHS 10-Year Health Plan as part of the shift from hospital to community.
The College of Optometrists calls for vital community minor and urgent eye care services to be universally commissioned in England
Optometrists talk to patients about eye health every day, and have an important role to play in health promotion and public health.