UK Eye Care Data Hub updated with additional eye conditions
21 April 2026
The UK Eye Care Data Hub, the most up-to-date and comprehensive model of the UK’s eye care workforce and eye diseases in one place, has been expanded to almost double the number of eye conditions and update aspects of the sector workforce data.
The College of Optometrists has led an update of the hub to include 38 additional eye conditions, including keratoconus, retinal vein occlusion and ectropion. The UK Eye Care Data Hub now provides eye health commissioners, researchers, providers and clinicians with direct access to estimates for the prevalence and incidence of over 80 eye conditions across the UK and by nation, region and ICB or Health Board from 2023 through to 2038.
The eye care workforce data has also been expanded to include students enrolled on English Level 6 Degree Apprenticeships in Ophthalmic Dispensing and updates to the Scottish optometry and ophthalmology workforce data.
Supporting clinical commissioning and workforce planning
The UK Eye Care Data Hub supports commissioners and designers of eye care services in each of the four UK nations with access to modelling data to identify future population eye care needs, track trends over time and optimise the existing eye care workforce.
Staffordshire Local Optical Committee (LOC) utilised the data hub when designing their locally enhanced services. This case study, developed with LOCSU, highlights their local achievements.
Irfan Razvi MCOptom, Prof Higher Cert Glauc, Chair, Staffordshire LOC, said: “After clinical consensus between Staffordshire LOC and Local Eye Health Network members, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board agreed to commission a first wave of core enhanced services aimed at reducing referrals into Hospital Eye Services and enabling more patients to be managed within the community. This has expanded the clinical roles of primary care optometrists.
“The project team is using the UK Eye Care Data Hub to provide models of current eye care workforce capacity, disease prevalence and incidence and projected future trends. This is helping to ensure the efficiency and sustainability for both current and future monitoring service models designed to support the ‘hospital to community shift’ shift in eye care.”
Dr Gillian Rudduck MCOptom, President of The College of Optometrists, said: “Users from across the UK and worldwide, including clinicians, academics and researchers, have logged in to use the UK Eye Care Data Hub since it launched in 2025. The hub has been used to support commissioners and designers of eye care services in each of the four UK nations to identify future population eye care needs based on data for a wide range of eye conditions seen in primary and secondary care, and to optimise the existing eye care workforce.”
Dr. Amy Hughes, Head of Research, Primary Eyecare Services, added: “The UK Eye Care Data Hub is an excellent resource with significant potential to support research and service development. I have used the tool to access workforce data and projections for a project on glaucoma filtering services. The detailed breakdown by higher qualification groups is particularly helpful.”
Zoe Richmond, Clinical Director at LOCSU, said: “Thank you to the College for the latest enhancement to the UK Eye Care Data Hub. This open access tool delivers essential prevalence and workforce data and is immensely useful to LOCs in informing their local commissioning conversations.
“LOCSU urge all LOCs to become familiar with the data hub and explore how their system-level data varies from their neighbours and from regional and national data.”
Sector-wide and UK-wide collaboration
The UK Eye Care Data Hub was first launched in January 2025 and was co-funded by the Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO), the British & Irish Orthoptic Society (BIOS), the Department of Health Northern Ireland, the Federation of Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians (FODO) and The Royal College of Ophthalmologists. The eye condition prevalence and incidence data was identified by 16 expert working groups, convened by The Royal College of Ophthalmologists. An Advisory Group consisting of both project funders and other stakeholders in the eye care sector had advised and steered the project and provided access to data.
The College plans a further update later this year which will reflect the first phase of the new ICB restructures in England and include updated workforce data.