Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his department is taking to help prevent irreversible blindness due to glaucoma progression.

Regular sight tests play a crucial role in the early detection of glaucoma, which is often symptomless in the early stages. Free National Health Service sight tests are available for many, including individuals diagnosed with glaucoma or those aged 40 years old and over with a close family history of glaucoma. Patients with suspected glaucoma will be referred for further investigation, any clinically necessary treatment, and ongoing monitoring, which can delay its progression.

NHS England has been testing how IT connectivity between primary and secondary eye care services and the development of a single point of access could improve the referral and triage of patients, reducing the time from referral to treatment. It could also allow for more patients to be managed closer to home, within community optometry. This could benefit all patients with eye care needs, including those with suspected or diagnosed glaucoma.