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 expand ophthalmology services to help early detection of Glaucoma.

NHS sight tests play a vital role in the early detection of glaucoma. Integrated care boards (ICBs) can also commission community-based glaucoma services, which support earlier identification, ongoing monitoring and management, helping to prevent avoidable sight loss.

Some ICBs are already using a Single Point of Access to speed up the referral and triage of patients between primary and secondary care.

In addition, the Getting It Right First Time programme is developing best practice guidance for glaucoma services, to support the consistent adoption of high standards of care from detection onwards.