National Health Service optical vouchers are primarily targeted at children and individuals on low incomes to help with the cost of glasses and contact lenses. The NHS complex lens voucher is a separate contribution available to eligible individuals with complex prescriptions who do not qualify for a main NHS optical voucher on income grounds.

The value of NHS optical vouchers and associated supplements is kept under annual review as part of the Department’s usual fee-setting process. No decisions have yet been made on voucher values or supplements for 2026/27.

National Health Service optical vouchers are primarily targeted at children and individuals on low incomes to help with the cost of glasses and contact lenses. The NHS complex lens voucher is a separate contribution available to eligible individuals with complex prescriptions who do not qualify for a main NHS optical voucher on income grounds.

The value of NHS optical vouchers and associated supplements is kept under annual review as part of the Department’s usual fee-setting process. No decisions have yet been made on voucher values or supplements for 2026/27.

Decisions on whether to commission these services are for integrated care boards, which are responsible for assessing local population needs and determining how best to meet them.

The Department worked with the eye care sector to develop a standard clinical specification for the commissioning of Community Minor and Urgent Eye Care Services, and this was published in February 2024. The specification is available at the following link:

https://locsu.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/1.-CUES-Service-specification-vs-1.43-Feb-2024.pdf

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet the needs of their local populations. This can include community-based glaucoma services, delivered by high street optical practices.

The Department welcomed the publication of the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) glaucoma best practice guidance, which highlights a range of approaches to improving glaucoma care and reducing avoidable sight loss. These include making greater use of primary care optometry to undertake additional testing for patients suspected of having glaucoma to help reduce unnecessary referrals, and, where appropriate, supporting the monitoring of patients with glaucoma in the community.

The GIRFT team will be hosting a webinar for ICB commissioners on 28 July, to promote the guidance and encourage consideration of its recommendations. Decisions on the commissioning of local services will remain a matter for ICBs.

Health services are a devolved matter and arrangements for the commissioning and delivery of primary eye care services differ across the United Kingdom, although the Government recognises the value of learning from the different approaches to the delivery of eye care services across the United Kingdom.

In England NHS funded sight testing services are widely available for eligible groups, including children, people aged 60 years old and over and individuals on income related benefits. Integrated care boards can also commission enhanced eye care services from optical practices, including minor and urgent eye care services and glaucoma services.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have the duty to shape their care market and to commission a range of high-quality, sustainable, and person-centred care and support services to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes encouraging a wide range of service provision to ensure that people, including those with sight loss, have a choice of appropriate services and equipment that maximises independence.

Although the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is not currently required to assess vision rehabilitation services as regulated activities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, sensory services, including vision rehabilitation, do form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care.

CQC assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for development, in their delivery of their duties under part 1 of the Care Act. This facilitates the sharing of good practice and helps us to target support where it is most needed. It may be helpful to know that the CQC will report on sensory services when there is something important to highlight, for example, something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have the duty to shape their care market and to commission a range of high-quality, sustainable, and person-centred care and support services to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes encouraging a wide range of service provision to ensure that people, including those with sight loss, have a choice of appropriate services and equipment that maximises independence.

Although the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is not currently required to assess vision rehabilitation services as regulated activities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, sensory services, including vision rehabilitation, do form part of the CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care.

CQC assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for development, in their delivery of their duties under part 1 of the Care Act. This facilitates the sharing of good practice and helps us to target support where it is most needed. It may be helpful to know that the CQC will report on sensory services when there is something important to highlight, for example, something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet local needs, including considering how any identified inequalities in access to services should be addressed.

As set out in our 10-Year Health Plan, we are committed to shifting more care from hospitals into the community to improve patient outcomes. Many ICBs are already commissioning enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices. This sits alongside the National Health Service’s sight testing service which is widely available across the country.

The Getting It Right First Time glaucoma best practice guidance, published in May 2026, will support more glaucoma patients receiving their follow up care on time. Our plans to invest £20 million to support digital referrals and access to the national care record service and develop single points of access between primary and secondary care will also support quicker access for patients to appropriate care.

The Department continues to consult with the optical fees negotiating committee on general ophthalmic services fees and payments for 2026/27. The Department will consider what information can be made available once the consultation has concluded.

The Health Bill will transfer statutory responsibility for commissioning primary ophthalmic services to integrated care boards (ICBs). Commissioning responsibility for these services has already been delegated by NHS England to ICBs since 2023, and funding is allocated to ICBs each year for this purpose. National Health Service sight testing services will continue to operate within a national regulatory and contractual framework, with contract terms set in regulations and fees set nationally through Directions. The bill will not affect patient eligibility for NHS sights tests.

We are committed to returning by March 2029 to the National Health Service constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment, across all specialties. In March 2026, we hit our first interim target of 65% performance against that standard. For ophthalmology, performance in March reached 72.9%, 4.6% up from a year earlier.

We remain focused on further improving elective waiting times, including for ophthalmology services. We are expanding the number of surgical hubs, like the one at West Berkshire Community Hospital, which provide dedicated and protected elective capacity to drive improvement in six specialities, including ophthalmology. We are reducing missed appointments through enhanced two-way communication between hospitals and patients, supported by artificial intelligence prediction tools. We are also expanding the use of remote monitoring and patient-initiated follow up, where appropriate, to offer patients more flexibility over their care.

From 2027, our new ‘online hospital’, NHS Online, will help to reduce patient waiting times across England by giving people on certain pathways, including glaucoma, conditions such as age-related macular degeneration, and cataracts, the choice of getting the specialist care that they need from their home. NHS Online will deliver the equivalent of up to 8.5 million appointments and assessments in its first three years across all specialities.

The Health Bill will transfer statutory responsibility for commissioning Primary Ophthalmic Services to integrated care boards (ICBs). Commissioning responsibility for these services has already been delegated by NHS England to ICBs since 2023, and funding is allocated to ICBs each year for this purpose. National Health Service sight testing services will continue to operate within a national regulatory and contractual framework, with contract terms set in regulations and fees set nationally through Directions. The bill will not affect patient eligibility for NHS sights tests.

General Ophthalmic Services are already a nationally mandated services defined in legislation, with nationally defined contractor fees set out in Directions.

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services. This can include the commissioning of enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices, including minor and urgent eye care services and glaucoma referral refinement services.

Improvements in IT connectivity and the development of single points of access between primary care optometry and secondary care will also support more care being delivered in the community, in line with ambitions in the 10-Year Health Plan.

The number of ophthalmology pathways waiting over 52 weeks has reduced by 4,418 between the beginning of July 2024 and the end of March 2026, while the proportion of pathways waiting 18 weeks or less has increased by 6.8% to 72.9%. Improving waiting times and access to treatment will be vital to prevent avoidable sight loss.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them. Local systems may take different approaches to meeting the needs of their local population, including decisions on commissioning enhanced eye care services, such as minor and urgent eye care services, in the community. In areas where these services are commissioned, ICBs are responsible for evaluating their effectiveness.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them. Local systems may take different approaches to meeting the needs of their local population, including decisions on commissioning enhanced eye care services, such as minor and urgent eye care services, in the community. In areas where these services are commissioned, ICBs are responsible for evaluating their effectiveness.