Page 3 - FODO Strategy 2023

Building on our success

– better eye care for all

Primary eye care in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and
Wales is recognised as one of the world’s most advanced eye care
systems. This is a major achievement, of which we should be proud.

Primary eye care providers are at the heart of this success.
They have invested personal resources over many decades in
training and education, new technologies and models of care
to meet changing population needs.
As a key pillar of the wider primary care system, they employ the
largest qualified eye care workforce in the four nations and are at
the heart of every community caring for the population’s vision and
eye health.

Protecting the foundations of the eye
health system

The bedrock of the UK eye health system is the sight test.
Legislated for in the Opticians Act, it provides a universal eye health
assessment, case-finding and vision correction service from which
all other eye care services flow, including ophthalmology. As a
result, no child or adult in the UK needs to suffer uncorrected vision
or its impacts, and asymptomatic sight-threatening diseases can
be detected early.
These are all significant achievements which we should celebrate.
FODO is committed to protecting and advancing these benefits
as a public good so that service users, the NHS and taxpayers
continue to benefit from all that has gone before.

The future of primary eye care – principles and priorities 3