Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce regional inequalities in access to eye care services.

Integrated care boards, as commissioners of primary and secondary eye care services, are required to work with local authorities to assess the current and future health, care, and wellbeing needs of their local populations. They will then set out, in joint local health and wellbeing strategies, how they will meet those needs, and this could include addressing any identified inequalities in accessing 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 for greater visibility of potential health inequalities. Further information on the Elective Reform Plan is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/reforming-elective-care-for-patients/

This enables local health services to understand the demographics of the patients on their waiting list to better tailor services to their needs. Data on the demographics of the elective waiting list for week ending 28 September 2025 is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/wlmds/

This data 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.