UK Eye Care Data Hub: forecasting eye health & workforce needs

Welcome to the UK Eye Care Data Hub. This dashboard has been developed to estimate the current eye care workforce and eye disease prevalence or incidence, and to model future trends over time.

This vital insight is essential for:

  • Commissioners of eye care services across the UK to understand the needs of the patients and their current and future resources to meet those needs
  • Optometrists and other eye care professionals to see where there may be opportunities for using their expertise
  • Employers and commissioners to identify priorities for future workforce education, training and development
Access (version 2*) UK Eye Care Data Hub

*Version two has been updated in April 2026

Providing enhanced services

We provide information on the clinical skills required to provide key eye care services

The tool models

  • the current multi-professional primary and secondary eye care workforce, and predicted workforce, based on data from 2023 and 2025 and current trends over the next 15 years
  • the prevalence or incidence of over 80 eye conditions over the next 15 years

The College of Optometrists has led a sector-wide and UK-wide, multi-professional eye care workforce supply and demand data modelling project, called the UK Eye Care Data Hub.

This hub has been developed to estimate the current eye care workforce and eye disease prevalence or incidence, and to model future trends over time. It has been designed primarily to support commissioners and designers of eye care services in each of the four UK nations to identify future population eye care needs and optimise the existing eye care workforce.

How the UK Eye Care Data Hub can help

This knowledge should help health services to:

  • better meet eye health needs
  • identify priorities for future workforce education, training and development
  • support the development of new models of care

The data is also helpful for practitioners in the eye care sector to:

  • identify where you and your qualifications are best valued to meet patient needs
  • support you in conversations with providers of eye care services in your area to address local requirements or request support for furthering your scope of practice
  • provide nationwide data to support research projects
Watch the UK Eye Care Data Hub webinar

More on the UK Eye Care Data Hub

UK Eye Care Data Hub - FAQs

We answer some of your most frequently asked questions on the forecasting tool.

UK Eye Care Data Hub news and updates

Get the latest UK Eye Care Data Hub news and updates when available.

The project is co-funded by:

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An Advisory Group consisting of both project funders and other stakeholders in the eye care sector was established to advise and steer the project, and provide access to data:

  • Association of British Dispensing Opticians
  • Association of Optometrists
  • British & Irish Orthoptic Society
  • Department of Health Northern Ireland
  • Federation of Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians
  • General Optical Council
  • Health Education and Improvement Wales
  • Local Optical Committee Support Unit
  • NHS England
  • Royal College of Nursing
  • The College of Optometrists
  • The Royal College of Ophthalmologists
  • Royal National Institute of Blind People
  • Scottish Government
  • Welsh Government

The tool has been developed by York Health Economics Consortium (YHEC).

Prevalence and incidence data was initially identified by 16 expert working groups convened by The Royal College of Ophthalmologists. These expert groups identified data based on literature reviews and expert opinion. Building on this work, additional eye conditions have been added to the Hub where there is good quality published prevalence or incidence from studies that are relevant to the UK population.

Workforce data at health board and ICS level is an estimate, modelled and based on regional or national datasets and populations.  There are no available data models for some professions or professional qualifications at ICS or Health Board level due to very small numbers. If users have accurate workforce data at ICS or Health Board level, please contact policy@college-optometrists.org.uk so the data can be included in the model.

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