Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are providing to implement the UK Vision Strategy.

The Government supports the aims of the UK Vision Strategy of improving eye health, preventing avoidable sight loss, improving services for those who do lose sight, and maximising social inclusion and opportunities for blind and partially sighted people.

Improving the commissioning of services is a key priority for the National Health Service and social care services, and this is one way that we expect to see improvements for patients.

The Public Health Outcomes Framework is an online only data tool which examines indicators that help us to understand trends in public health. It includes an indicator on preventable sight loss which will track three of the most common causes of preventable sight loss: age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. The open availability of data provide a resource for commissioners and local health and wellbeing boards to identify what is needed in their areas and for comparisons to be made with other areas. The online data tool is available on the Public Health England website.

Our public health programmes tackling smoking and obesity will also help prevent sight loss by addressing some of the key risk factors in the development of eye disease.