LOCSU’s Three-Year Strategy: Where We Are
30 April 2026
During NOC25, CEO Janice Foster launched LOCSU’s 2025 – 2028 strategic plan, ‘LOCs: Shaping the Future of Local Eye Care.’ One year on, we are pleased to report resounding success against LOC identified priorities, but the work is far from over.
The strategy drew on two years of consultation and collaboration with LOCs, centred around three pledges to enhance, enable, and empower a unified community of LOCs to lead change and improve population health across England.
Through these pledges, LOCSU committed to supporting LOCs to optimise committee running, influence local service commissioning and develop local eye care innovation.
Where we’ve succeeded in 2025, we always strive to do better. We’re excited to continue our direct support, helping LOCs to shape the future of local eye care, and drive change for the better.
Year One: Reflections and Attainment
Encouraging LOCs to hold LOCSU to account, we published key performance indicators for the three pledges. In 2025, LOCSU delivered against our promises.
Amidst a year of great change within the NHS, LOCSU has enhanced LOC operations, with 79% of LOCs adopting improved governance models and policies, enabled LOC influence, with 78% using LOCSU pathways and supporting cases in service negotiations with local commissioners, and empowered LOC strategy development, with 81% of LOCs utilising the members’ area of the LOCSU website, our knowledge hub.
We’ve actively supported LOCs in influencing commissioners, and together, we have achieved 487 live services, including nine new services since April 2025.
During a year of changes within the NHS and the overall commissioning landscape, LOCSU has sat alongside LOCs and national colleagues in crucial meetings, joining as partners and strong advocates for primary care optometry. Stepping up assistance, we have also published key guidance materials, reviewed contracts and influenced national policy through consultations and joint working sector working with ABDO, AOP, FODO and the College of Optometrists.
Recognising the importance of continuous learning and improvement, LOCSU has supported LOCs as a CPD to provider to help them obtain recognition for their training events, enhancing LOC value to their practices. In the last 12 months, 2168 CPD points have been awarded to LOC members – a 135% increase on the previous year, and rapidly growing area of LOCSU support.
Wider activity includes troubleshooting financial matters for LOCs, such as unlocking delays on GOS uplift payments and distributing domiciliary levies, working with WOPEC to maintain and update clinical pathway training modules and maintaining Quality in Optometry (QiO) for the benefit of all practices in England.
Look out for LOCSU’s annual report in the summer, where you can learn more about our work with LOCs.
Year Two: Ambitions, Targets and Accountability
LOCSU’s ambitions are stronger than ever as we work to meet our three-year strategy. 2026 will see LOCSU build upon the strong foundations laid in year one, as we work with LOCs to optimise the opportunities presented through the NHS 10-year Health Plan.
We have recently shared information about the new LOCSU team structure which directly responds to LOC feedback, aligning expertise with local focus and increasing timely support with a growing team incorporating LOC Coordinators and Regional Optometry Partners (previously Advancement Leads). LOC representation remains integral to LOCSU’s structure, with four Board Directors and a clinical team drawn from LOCs across England.
We still have more to do – in 2026, we will:
- Prioritise cataract and paediatric pathways – recognising alignment to the NHS plan and ICB priorities combined with great benefits for practices and patients, we’re reviewing our existing pathways and producing supporting cases to aid system influence.
- Further develop QiO – this is critical to practices and underpins every NHS contract. QiO is funded and hosted by LOCSU on behalf of the sector, and we’re undertaking procurement and development to improve functionality and enhance user experience.
- Improve the LOCSU and LOC Online websites – we’re working on a redesign to modernise and improve functionality and automation to reduce LOC workload, enabling vital LOC time to be directed towards engaging and influencing local systems.
Janice Foster, CEO at LOCSU, said: “2025 was a fantastic start for the strategy and I am incredibly proud of all that the LOCSU team and LOCs have achieved against a backdrop of NHS change.
“With nine new eye care services contracted, service extensions and 99% of LOCs with at least one live service, by working together and maximising the power of the united LOC community we are improving the eye health of local people.
“We must not rest though until every person in England has access to vital local eye care and eye health services. I’m excited to continue this work and momentum as we move into 2026/27 and beyond.”
If you would like to learn more about the work of LOCSU, and LOCs, contact info@locsu.co.uk.