Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of routine eye appointments that have been missed as a result of the covid-19 outbreak in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England; what assessment he has made of the impact of missing regular eye tests on eye health in those areas; and what steps his Department is taking to encourage take-up of routine eye tests during the covid-19 outbreak.

No estimate has been made. Despite routine National Health Service eye care services being suspended at the start of the pandemic, a number of optical practices continued to provide essential eye care, including the provision of clinically necessary NHS sight tests and remote prescribing of glasses.

High street optical practices have been providing face to face care since 15 June 2020, subject to having the relevant infection protection control and personal protective equipment in place. The Standard Operating Procedure for optical settings issued in October 2020, asked practices to restore NHS activity to usual levels where safe and clinically appropriate to do so and to contact clinically vulnerable patients and those whose care may have been delayed. NHS England has advised that NHS sight tests are now back to, or above, pre-pandemic levels.