Patients have always had the right to choose how and where they access primary eye care. This has driven the investment and innovation, which means that today the UK has a world-beating primary eye care service available to all - a major achievement in public and population health. 

As the association for primary eye care providers, we remain firmly committed to advancing equality in access, clinical excellence and patient choice across all eye care services. We, therefore, also strongly support NHS patients in England having the right to choose their NHS ophthalmology provider based on clinical need, not ability to pay. 

Why choice matters 

Patients highly value having a choice of where and how to access their care [1, 2].

How choice benefits patients 

Patients have always had the right to choose their primary eye care provider. This has resulted in providers investing and innovating to deliver responsive, trusted and high-quality eye care services close to home.  

Patients surveyed reported being satisfied with their last visit to primary eye care and 93% of respondents had confidence in their optometrist [3].

What we will do  

As set out in Principles and Priorities for primary eye care, we will work with our members and sector partners to: 

• Preserve patient protections and choice in legislation.
• Support informed patient choice and freedom for patients to vote with their feet as a critical element in patient protection and a key driver for service improvement.
• Campaign for better digital connectivity to streamline care and embed patient empowerment and choice at every step in the eye care pathway.

Related resources: 

• Consent at a glance
• Supporting patient choice in England

References

[1] Patient Choice: How patients choose and how providers respond, King's Fund, London. A similar proportion said they wanted a variety of suppliers (CBI/ACEVO poll, July 2012). Note: 75 per cent of respondents said choice was either 'very important' or 'important' to them; older respondents, those with no qualifications, and those from a mixed and non-white background were more likely to value choice. While an old survey, other research has also shown people value a choice when they need to access healthcare.

[2] Healthwatch, 2023, What do people think about patient choice? https://www.healthwatch.co.uk/blog/2023-11-20/what-do-people-think-about-patient-choice  

[3] GOC, Public perceptions research 2022, https://optical.org/media/gqfgdbmz/public-perceptions-report-2022.pdf  

June 2024