Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has had with NHS England on its plans for the NHS Special Schools Eye Care Service.

As of November 2022, there are 40 optometrists and 33 dispensing opticians contributing to the delivery of the NHS Special Schools Eye Care Service, under Primary Ophthalmic Services contracts. However, the number providing the service in schools will vary from month to month.

The Department regularly discusses eyecare services with NHS England, which has commissioned an independent evaluation of the special schools' proof-of-concept pilot programme to inform future National Health Service commissioning decisions. The Department will discuss future plans for the service with NHS England once the evaluation has concluded early in 2023.