Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of geographic variation in access to community eye care services.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the health needs of their local population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them. Local systems may take different approaches to meeting the needs of their local population, including decisions on commissioning enhanced eye care services, such as minor and urgent eye care services, in the community. In areas where these services are commissioned, ICBs are responsible for evaluating their effectiveness.