Bringing Eye Care Closer to Home: A New Partnership to Transform Ophthalmology Services
8 October 2025
Primary Eyecare Services, in partnership with the NHS Confederation and the Q Community, is proud to announce a new improvement programme aimed at shifting hospital-based ophthalmology services into community settings across England.
Why This Matters
Ophthalmology is currently the busiest outpatient specialty in the NHS (Healthwatch, 2025), with long waiting times for diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic eye disease. These delays can lead to irreversible sight loss and a reduced quality of life.
The challenge is clear: how do we deliver specialist eye care closer to home, cut waiting times, and improve patient experience?
The Programme
Starting in November 2025, this eight-month initiative will help six multidisciplinary teams across England design and implement local transition plans for community-based ophthalmology care. Each team will focus on a specific sub-specialty and receive six structured virtual learning sessions, tailored coaching and expert input and support to move from planning to implementation.
Applications are open from 8th October to 30th October 2025.
If you’d like to be part of this transformative program, apply here.
Voice from the Partnership
Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, emphasised the urgency of moving from theory to practice:
“Much has been said about the left-shift and moving care closer to home… Those that can do this successfully will not only make a difference to patients within their own areas but will serve as part of the vanguard for the change that we need to see nationally.”
Dharmesh Patel, Chief Executive of Primary Eyecare Services, highlighted the strength of existing community optometry networks:
“Eye care and optometry services are a success story in the provision of open and accessible NHS-funded care… There is so much scope to build on this success by expanding the range of services available to include more of those normally located within hospitals.”
Jen Morgan, representing the Q Community, added:
“Only by examining the whole system can we move from ideas to successful practice… Together, we will develop strategies, operating models and culture of improvement that is vital to transform services.”
What’s Next?
This programme marks a major step toward the NHS vision for integrated, community-based care. By empowering local teams and leveraging trusted optometry providers, we can deliver timely, personalised and effective eye care – right on the high street.