Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a National Clinical Director for eye health.

NHS England has appointed its National Clinical Directors on the basis that they cover a wider handling of all specialties, rather than focusing on very specific areas or parts of the body.

This approach supports the ethos of the NHS Outcomes Framework and will encourage a system-wide focus on how commissioners commission effective services using sound clinical principles and a rigorous evidence base.