Integrated care boards are responsible for deciding whether to commission enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices to meet the needs of their local populations. This is in line with the 10-Year Health Plan’s commitment to local decision making.

As part of our 10-Year Health Plan, the Department is investing £20 million to equip high street optometrists with the digital tools they need to refer patients faster and more accurately, helping more people get convenient eye care closer to home.

Accident and emergency departments should still be used for genuine emergencies, and we expect patients to be assessed and directed to the service that best meets their needs.

Integrated care boards are responsible for deciding whether to commission enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices to meet the needs of their local populations. This is in line with the 10-Year Health Plan’s commitment to local decision making.

As part of our 10-Year Health Plan, the Department is investing £20 million to equip high street optometrists with the digital tools they need to refer patients faster and more accurately, helping more people get convenient eye care closer to home.

Accident and emergency departments should still be used for genuine emergencies, and we expect patients to be assessed and directed to the service that best meets their needs.

Integrated care boards are responsible for deciding whether to commission enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices to meet the needs of their local populations. This is in line with the 10-Year Health Plan’s commitment to local decision making.

As part of our 10-Year Health Plan, the Department is investing £20 million to equip high street optometrists with the digital tools they need to refer patients faster and more accurately, helping more people get convenient eye care closer to home.

Accident and emergency departments should still be used for genuine emergencies, and we expect patients to be assessed and directed to the service that best meets their needs.

Integrated care boards are responsible for deciding whether to commission enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices to meet the needs of their local populations. This is in line with the 10-Year Health Plan’s commitment to local decision making.

As part of our 10-Year Health Plan, the Department is investing £20 million to equip high street optometrists with the digital tools they need to refer patients faster and more accurately, helping more people get convenient eye care closer to home.

Accident and emergency departments should still be used for genuine emergencies, and we expect patients to be assessed and directed to the service that best meets their needs.

Integrated care boards are responsible for deciding whether to commission enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices to meet the needs of their local populations. This is in line with the 10-Year Health Plan’s commitment to local decision making.

As part of our 10-Year Health Plan, the Department is investing £20 million to equip high street optometrists with the digital tools they need to refer patients faster and more accurately, helping more people get convenient eye care closer to home.

Accident and emergency departments should still be used for genuine emergencies, and we expect patients to be assessed and directed to the service that best meets their needs.

Integrated care boards are responsible for deciding whether to commission enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices to meet the needs of their local populations. This is in line with the 10-Year Health Plan’s commitment to local decision making.

As part of our 10-Year Health Plan, the Department is investing £20 million to equip high street optometrists with the digital tools they need to refer patients faster and more accurately, helping more people get convenient eye care closer to home.

Accident and emergency departments should still be used for genuine emergencies, and we expect patients to be assessed and directed to the service that best meets their needs.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that children, including those with complex visual needs such as albinism, can access appropriate optical care and appliances.

National Health Service optical vouchers are designed to support eligible groups, including children, with the cost of clinically necessary glasses or contact lenses. Voucher values range from £42.40 to £233.56, with individuals with more complex prescriptions receiving the high voucher values. There are no plans for a review of NHS optical vouchers.

Children and young people with significant or complex vision impairment may also be supported through NHS low vision services. These services provide specialist assessment and, where appropriate, low vision aids to help maximise functional vision and independence.

The Home Office is committed to supporting the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods to animal testing, as outlined in the published strategy: Replacing animals in science’, published on 11 November 2025.

The last licence authorising the use of the rabbit pyrogen test was granted in 2017. The most recent reported use of the test was in 2018. No pyrogen testing has been reported since this date.

The latest published statistics show that no procedures were reported under the category of ‘skin irritation/corrosion’ tests.

In 2024, three procedures were reported under the category of ‘eye irritation/corrosion’ tests.

The Home Office publishes annual statistics on the use of animals in scientific procedures. The statistics can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/animals-in-science-statistics

In the last three years, there has been a total of 469 finished consultant episodes recorded where there was any procedure of ‘other corneal graft procedure’ for patients aged zero to 17 years old, when accounting for activity in English National Health Service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the private sector. By year there were:

• 195 in 2022/23;
• 138 in 2023/24; and
• 136 in 2024/25.

This information has been gathered from the Hospital Episode Statistics dataset, which is published by NHS England.

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning artificial eye services. The National Artificial Eye Service supplies one artificial eye free of charge. Customised bespoke artificial eyes can be provided to patients at the time of the supply of a National Health Service prosthesis at a small cost. Further information, including examples of customisations provided to patients, can be found on the National Artificial Eye Service website, at the following link:

https://www.naes.nhs.uk/custom-eyes

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for the development and implementation of regulations for medical devices placed on the United Kingdom’s market, irrespective of the specific hospital in which they are used. All devices, including prosthetic eyes, must meet the relevant requirements of the UK Medical Devices Regulations 2002 (MDR 2002).

The MHRA is developing a future regulatory framework for medical devices that will ensure patients have access to the safe and effective medical devices they need, including prosthetic eyes and other custom-made devices. The first step is the introduction of new Post-Market Surveillance regulations, which came into force in June, putting in place strengthened legal requirements for how manufacturers monitor and report on their devices once they are being used in the real world. We intend to follow this with updates to the MDR 2002, which will enter into force next year, bringing further risk-proportionate improvements to ensure device traceability and patient safety. This will include additional measures that must be taken before a product can be placed on the market, including enhanced requirements for custom-made devices. To support patient access to medical technologies, the MHRA recently consulted on proposals to introduce an international reliance scheme to enable swifter market access for certain devices that have already been approved in a comparable regulator country. The agency will publish a response to that consultation in due course.

The Department seeks to support national campaigns where possible, such as national eye health week. The NHS.UK website provides information about glaucoma and the importance of regular sight tests whilst also providing information about entitlement to free National Health Service sight tests.

The National Health Service website provides advice on how to protect your eyes in the sun. It recommends avoiding looking directly at the sun, as this can cause permanent eye damage, and advises people to wear sunglasses with the appropriate ultraviolet protection. Further information can be found on the NHS page on sun and sunscreen safety, at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/seasonal-health/sunscreen-and-sun-safety/

Sun exposure can increase the risk of eye cancer. The Department is currently seeking views and ideas to inform the development of the National Cancer Plan for England, to meet the health mission goal to reduce the lives lost to the biggest killers. The consultation materials are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan

Whilst health policy is largely devolved, the Department works together with other Government departments and the devolved administrations to support research across the United Kingdom. From autumn 2023, health and social care researchers, including universities and in some cases subject matter experts (SMEs), in the devolved administrations will have increased access to health and social care research funding via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including eye care.

The move has been agreed following consultation with the Scottish Government’s Chief Scientist Office, Health and Care Research Wales and Health and Social Care Research & Development in Northern Ireland. The announcement expands the list of NIHR research programmes that are available to researchers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The move will boost research across the United Kingdom and help increase access to research for people in the three devolved administrations.

Health in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter.

In England, cutting waiting lists is one of this Government’s top priorities. We are making good progress on tackling the longest waits, to ensure patients get the care they need when they need it, including for eye treatment and surgery.

The National Health Service had ambitions to eliminate waits of 18 months or more by April 2023. Thanks to the incredible work of NHS staff, official NHS England statistics show by April 2023 the total number of patients waiting more than 18 months was 10,737; a reduction of over 91% from the peak of almost 125,000 in September 2021.

The Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help tackle waiting lists across all specialisms. This is supported by £5.9 billion investment in new beds, equipment and technology.

The NHS is also rolling out new and expanded surgical hubs to increase capacity and activity, focusing on providing high volume, low complexity surgery such as ophthalmology. There are currently 93 operational elective surgical hubs across England.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued final guidance recommending faricimab for treating wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular oedema in adults in two separate appraisals on 29 June 2022. The National Health Service is legally required to fund faricimab for eligible patients in line with NICE’s recommendations. Further guidance is available at the following links:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta800

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta799

No assessment has been made. Doctors performing refractive eye surgery in the United Kingdom must be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC), the independent regulator of all medical doctors practising in the UK. Providers who carry out refractive eye surgery must also be registered by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. All refractive eye surgery locations are monitored and, where necessary, inspected by CQC. If CQC become aware of any concerns regarding an individual medical practitioner, then CQC will notify the GMC.

The Secretary of State has no plans to assess the regulations and governance structure for refractive eye surgery.

Doctors performing refractive eye surgery in the United Kingdom must be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC), the independent regulator of all medical doctors practising in the UK.

Providers who carry out refractive eye surgery must also be registered by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. All refractive eye surgery locations are monitored and, where necessary, inspected by CQC.

If CQC become aware of any concerns regarding an individual medical practitioner, then CQC will notify the GMC.

We have had no such discussions, as this is a devolved matter.