Visual Impairment: Ophthalmic Services
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of variations in services commissioned by integrated care boards on health inequalities for demographic groups at elevated risk of sight loss, including conditions such as wet age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet local need, including addressing any identified inequalities in accessing services. This can include the commissioning of enhanced eye care services such as community glaucoma services.
Understanding patient demographics is an essential step in identifying and tackling health inequalities. The Elective Reform Plan included a commitment to publish waiting list information broken down by demographics to allow greater visibility of potential health inequalities. This enables local health services to understand the demographics of patients on their waiting list to better tailor services to their needs. The Elective Reform Plan is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/reforming-elective-care-for-patients/
Data on the demographics of the elective waiting list for the week ending 29 March 2026 can be found at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/wlmds/
It shows Referral to Treatment waiting times from the Waiting List Minimum Data Set for Ophthalmology split by age, sex, deprivation, and ethnicity.
The Public Health Outcomes Framework Eye Health Indicator also continues to track the rate of sight loss for age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. This information is available to commissioners and can be used to drive improved local outcomes and interventions.
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