Eye care statistics: April 2025 to March 2026
Statistics on primary and secondary eye care services provided in Wales for April 2025 to March 2026.
In this page
Introduction
This annual report summarises statistics on NHS eye care services including both primary and secondary care services for the financial year 2025 to 2026.
The statistics help to monitor the delivery of eye care services in Wales and provide evidence for eye care policy development and evaluation.
Non-NHS funded eye care activity is not included in this report.
Background information is available in the quality report and all underlying datasets are published on StatsWales: sight tests by health board.
Summary
Eye care activity across Wales continued to increase in the financial year 2025 to 2026 as Wales General Ophthalmic Service (WGOS) became more established. There were record levels of service provision in both primary and secondary care.
Expanded primary care services saw more routine and urgent NHS-funded eye examinations and more low vision assessments delivered than ever before.
Statistics for referral filtering and independent prescribing showed more patients were treated within optometry practices without needing referrals to hospitals or general practices.
Demands on hospital eye services remain high with referrals, outpatient attendances and admissions all reaching record levels.
However, ophthalmology department activity increased substantially with a record high number of pathways closed and significant reductions in waiting lists.
The increase in activity was supported by an increase in workforce availability in primary care and workforce growth in secondary care.
Main points
In the financial year 2025 to 2026:
- more than 910,000 NHS-funded eye examinations (WGOS 1) were provided, an annual increase of 5.1% and the highest on record
- more than 319,000 urgent or follow up eye examinations (WGOS 2) were provided, an increase of 13.9% and the highest on record
- nearly 14,900 referral filtering (WGOS 4) were provided; 57.0% of these patients did not require a secondary care referral
- just more than 43,000 independent prescribing (WGOS 5) appointments were delivered; 95.3% did not result in a referral outside WGOS 5
- more than 175,000 ophthalmology pathways closed in the year, a record high, but 73,000 pathways remained open at the end of the financial year
- nearly 349,000 ophthalmology outpatient appointments were attended, an increase of 2.9% from the previous year and the highest on record
Primary eye care services: Wales General Ophthalmic Services (WGOS)
Primary eye care services are delivered through WGOS following legislative reforms in 2023. The reform was intended to relieve some pressure in secondary care by delivering more services in primary care, closer to patients’ homes. WGOS replaced the previous primary eye care service structure which contained:
- General Ophthalmic Services
- Eye Health Examination Wales (EHEW)
- Low Vision Services Wales
- other enhanced service pathways
There are 5 main elements of WGOS, all of which are reported on in this release.
A full breakdown of WGOS services can be found on the NHS Wales website.
WGOS 1: eye examinations and optical vouchers
WGOS 1 covers comprehensive eye examinations in optometry practices, including:
- sight tests
- assessments of visual function
- preventative eye health screening
- the provision of optical vouchers
The NHS recommends most people should have an eye examination with an optometrist at least once every 2 years to reduce preventable sight loss.
Many people qualify for NHS-funded eye examinations. The eligibility criteria for these widened with the introduction of WGOS 1 in 2023 (NHS Wales).
As of 31 March 2026, 313 optometry practices were providing full WGOS services, with a further 48 exclusively providing WGOS mobile services.
Figure 1: NHS-funded eye examinations (WGOS 1), between financial years 2016 to 2017 and 2025 to 2026
Description of figure 1: line chart showing the number of WGOS 1 NHS-funded eye examinations has been on a long-term upward trend apart from when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic affected services in 2020. Examinations have increased each year since the introduction of WGOS and reached a record high in the latest year.
Source: General Ophthalmic Service 1 sight test form, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership
Number of WGOS 1 NHS-funded eye examinations on StatsWales
The number of NHS-funded eye examinations provided through WGOS 1 has increased steadily over the long-term, apart from the COVID-19 pandemic affected years.
In the financial year 2025 to 2026:
- WGOS 1 provided just more than 910,000 NHS-funded eye examinations
- eye examinations increased by 5.1% from the previous year and by 17.1% over the last 10 years, reaching the highest number on record
Note that for clinical reasons, some people may have more than one eye examination per year.
WGOS 1 eye examinations data by patient eligibility is available on StatsWales.
Domiciliary eye examinations
While most NHS-funded eye examinations take place at primary care optometry practices, a small proportion take place at locations such as people’s homes and residential homes.
In the financial year 2025 to 2026:
- nearly 29,000 NHS-funded domiciliary eye examinations were provided, an annual increase of 3.0%, and the highest number on record
Time series data for domiciliary eye examinations are available on StatsWales.
NHS optical vouchers processed
NHS optical vouchers are financial subsidies provided by the NHS to help eligible individuals pay for glasses or contact lenses.
In the financial year 2025 to 2026:
- nearly 277,000 optical vouchers were processed, an annual increase of 1.7%
Time series data for NHS optical vouchers are available on StatsWales.
Claims for repairs or replacement spectacles
Similarly, the NHS provides financial help to eligible individuals to repair or replace spectacles that are damaged or lost.
In the financial year 2025 to 2026, just more than 41,000 claims for repairs or replacement spectacles were made. This was an annual increase of 0.7% and the highest number on record.
Time series data for repairs and replacements are available on StatsWales.
WGOS 2: urgent and follow-up eye health examinations
WGOS 2 provides urgent and enhanced eye care in primary care optometry practices. Prior to the financial year 2023 to 2024, similar services were offered through Eye Health Examination Wales (EHEW).
Services are grouped into treatment bands.
Band 1
Includes urgent appointments and referrals from another healthcare provider for conditions such as flashing vision or sudden vision loss.
Band 2
Appointments involve further investigations by primary care optometrists with the aim of reducing referrals into secondary care eye services.
Band 3
Includes follow-up appointments to Band 1 examinations or patient checks following cataract operations.
Figure 2: urgent and follow-up examinations by treatment band, between financial years 2016 to 2017 and 2025 to 2026
Description of figure 2: line chart showing since the COVID-19 pandemic, urgent and follow-up eye care examinations for all 3 bands, delivered by primary care optometrists, have increased each year and exceed pre-pandemic levels.
Source: Eye Health Examination Wales (EHEW) form, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership
Number of examinations claimed through Wales General Ophthalmic Services 2 scheme on StatsWales
In the financial year 2025 to 2026:
- just over 319,000 examinations were provided through WGOS 2, an annual increase of 13.9% and a record high
- just more than half (52.8%) of examinations were for Band 1
- nearly three out of ten (29.6%) examinations were for Band 2
- around one in six (17.6%) examinations were for Band 3
- the number of Band 3 appointments increased by 31.7% from the previous year, the largest increase of any band
Further breakdowns including age band and selected symptom are available on StatsWales.
WGOS 3: low vision assessments and certificates of vision impairment (CVI)
WGOS 3 provides low vision services which aim to help people with visual impairment remain independent. The service does this by providing aids such as:
- magnifiers
- enhanced lighting or other assistive tools
- education and employment support
- onward referrals to social services and voluntary organisations
Figure 3: low vision assessments by type, between financial years 2016 to 2017 and 2025 to 2026 [Note 1]
Description of figure 3: line chart showing the total number of low vision assessments increased in every year following the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching a record high in the latest year. The number of initial assessments has been at least two and a half times higher than the number of follow-up assessments in all 3 years in which data are available.
Source: Low Vision Assessment Record Card, NHS Shared Services Partnership, and Low Vision Service Wales
Low vision assessments on StatsWales
[Note 1] Data for initial assessments and follow-up appointments are only available from the financial year 2023 to 2024 onwards, following the introduction of WGOS 3.
In the financial year 2025 to 2026:
- nearly 9,600 low vision assessments were provided, an increase of 9.0% from the previous year
- just more than 7,200 assessments were initial assessments, an increase of 14.6% from the previous year
- nearly 2,400 were follow-up assessments, a decrease of 5.3% from the previous year
Analysis of low vision appointment data by age band on StatsWales shows:
- just over two thirds (67.4%) of assessments were for patients ages 80 or older
- just over a quarter (26.7%) were for patients aged between 60 and 79
- 1 in 20 (5.3%) were for patients aged between 19 and 59
- less than one in a hundred (0.6%) were for patients aged 18 or younger
- the age-profile for low vision patients has remained broadly stable over the last decade
Statistics on visual acuity recorded at assessments and referrals are available on StatsWales.
Certificates of Vision Impairment (CVI)
CVI can be issued to people that are sight impaired or severely sight impaired. When a CVI is issued, the person can register with their local authority and additional support services and benefits can be accessed. Prior to the introduction of WGOS 3 in 2023, a CVI could be issued through Low Vision Service Wales.
Figure 4: certificates of vision impairment (CVI) issued to Welsh residents by age band, between financial years 2015 to 2016 and 2024 to 2025 [Note 1]
Description of figure 4: line chart showing the number of CVI issued to Welsh residents has increased in each year since the COVID-19 pandemic to a record high in the latest year. Over the last decade, most certificates were issued to people aged 80 and over.
Source: Certificate of Vision Impairment (CVI) form, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership, and Moorfields Eye Hospital
[Note 1] Data for Welsh residents certified in Wales are available for the financial year 2025 to 2026 and is published on StatsWales. However, data for Welsh residents certified in England are not yet available, therefore the financial year 2024 to 2025 is the most recent year capturing all Welsh resident patients.
In the financial year 2024 to 2025, there were 1,699 new CVI issued to Welsh residents, an increase of 1.3% from the previous year. Of these:
- 58.1% were for patients aged 80 and older
- 26.1% were for patients aged between 60 and 79
- 10.9% were for patients aged between 20 and 59
- 4.4% were for patients aged 19 or younger
The annual change in the number of CVI issued for each age band was:
- a decrease of 3.8% for those aged 80 and older
- an increase of 11.9% for those aged 60 to 79
- an increase of 6.9% for those aged 20 to 59
- a decrease of 1.3% for those younger than 20
Statistics on the cause of sight impairment is published on StatsWales.
Statistics on the ethnic group of patients certified is published on StatsWales.
WGOS 4: referral filtering and monitoring
WGOS 4 aims to provide specialist eye care closer to home and reduce pressure on hospital eye care services. It enables certain primary care optometrists to assess and treat glaucoma and medical retina patients, who would otherwise be referred to secondary care.
Figure 5: outcome of referral and filtering (WGOS 4) appointments, by condition, financial year 2025 to 2026 [Note 1] [Note 2]
Description of figure 5: bar chart showing the most common outcome for both medical retina and glaucoma patients was a referral for a follow-up appointment in a primary care optometry practice, followed by a referral to a hospital ophthalmology department and discharge.
Source: K2 payments system, NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership
Outcome of WGOS 4 appointments by condition on StatsWales
[Note 1] Data for the financial year 2024 to 2025 are not directly comparable with data for the financial year 2025 to 2026 onwards as WGOS 4 was introduced at different times across health boards during the financial year 2024 to 2025.
[Note 2] An additional 170 WGOS 4 appointments were recorded for hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) patients that are not included in figure 5.
In the financial year 2025 to 2026, there were nearly 20,000 WGOS 4 appointments provided. Of these:
- 56.4% were for patients with medical retina
- 42.8% were for patients with glaucoma
- 0.9% were for patients with HCQ
- over 14,900 (or 74.7%) were for referral filtering
- nearly 4,900 (or 24.5%) were for patient monitoring
- 170 (or 0.9%) were for HCQ
Analysing the outcome of WGOS 4 referral filtering appointments shows:
- 43.0% of patients were referred to ophthalmology departments
- 31.9% of patients were referred into primary care optometry services
- 25.2% of patients were discharged
WGOS 5: independent prescribing
WGOS 5 allows qualified primary care optometrists to diagnose and treat certain complex or acute eye conditions. They are enabled to independently prescribe medication without referring patients to general practice or secondary care.
Figure 6: outcome of specialist appointment with prescribing optometrist (WGOS 5), by appointment type, financial year 2025 to 2026 [Note 1]
Description of figure 6: bar chart showing most WGOS 5 appointments resulted in the patient either requiring another follow-up appointment within the WGOS 5 pathway or being discharged. A small proportion resulted in a referral outside of the WGOS 5 pathway.
Source: K2 payments system, NHS Wales Services Partnership
Outcome of WGOS 5 appointment by appointment type on StatsWales
[Note 1] Data for the financial year 2024 to 2025 are not directly comparable with data for the financial year 2025 to 2026 onwards. This is because WGOS 5 was introduced at different times across health boards during the financial year 2024 to 2025.
[Note 1] Data for the financial year 2024 to 2025 are not directly comparable with data for the financial year 2025 to 2026 onwards. This is because WGOS 5 was introduced at different times across health boards during the financial year 2024 to 2025.
In the financial year 2025 to 2026, there were just over 43,000 WGOS 5 appointments in total. Of these:
- 47.1% were for initial appointments
- 52.9% were for follow-up appointments
Analysis by age group shows:
- 6.6% of appointments were for patients aged 18 or younger
- 47.1% of the appointments were for patients aged 19 to 59
- 46.3% of appointments were for patients aged 60 or older
Most appointments resulted in the patient staying in the WGOS 5 pathway or being discharged:
- 56.1% resulted in a further WGOS 5 follow-up appointment
- 39.2% resulted in discharge
- 4.7% resulted in a referral outside of WGOS 5
Hospital eye care services
Figures 7 to 10 are based on hospital activity data published on 17 September 2026 on StatsWales. These datasets are subject to monthly revisions and therefore the data in this release may not exactly match data on StatsWales in future months.
Ophthalmology referrals
Clinicians such as optometrists and GPs can refer patients to hospital eye care services (ophthalmology) when the patient has a condition that is too complex to treat in their setting.
Referrals statistics count the number of referrals received by local health boards for a first outpatient consultant appointment, regardless of the patient’s area of residence.
Figure 7: ophthalmology referrals for first outpatient appointment, between financial years 2016 to 2017 and 2025 to 2026 [Note 1]
Description of figure 7: line chart showing that the total number of referrals has steadily increased over the last five years, reaching a record high in the latest year. The increase is largely driven by referrals from optometrists and other non-GP sources, while GP referrals have been broadly stable.
Source: Outpatient Referral Dataset, Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW)
Referrals by local health board and month on StatsWales
[Note 1] Other referral sources include clinicians such as hospital consultant doctors, nurses and emergency department staff.
In the financial year 2025 to 2026:
- there were just over 135,000 referrals for first outpatient appointments to ophthalmology, a 9.0% increase from the previous year and the highest on record
- optometrists made nearly 54,000 referrals (39.8% of all referrals), an annual increase of 0.6%
- GPs made nearly 21,000 referrals (15.3% of all referrals), an annual increase of 7.7%
- other clinicians made 61,000 referrals (44.9% of all referrals), an annual increase of 18.2%
Analysing the trend over the last decade, ophthalmology referrals:
- increased by nearly 30,000 (or 27.9%) in total
- from optometrists, increased by 14,000 (or 35.0%)
- from GPs, decreased by more than 15,000 (or 42.2%)
- from other clinicians, increased by more than 30,000 (or 101.7%)
Waiting times (referral to treatment)
Waiting times for hospital eye care services are measured by the referral to treatment (RTT) patient pathway time. This counts the time a patient waits from the date which the hospital receives the referral to the date when treatment starts.
Open pathways refer to patients yet to start treatment but are actively on the waiting list for treatment.
Closed pathways refer to patients who have received treatment or have been deemed by a clinician that they do not need treatment and have been removed from the waiting list.
The statistics in this section are based on patient pathways and not patients. These numbers do not approximate to each other as the same patient could have multiple pathways for different conditions.
A full definition is available in the quality report.
The 2 longest standing Welsh Government targets associated with RTT are:
- 95% of patients should wait less than 26 weeks from referral
- no patient should wait more than 36 weeks for treatment from referral
Figure 8: ophthalmology closed patient pathways by weeks waited, between financial years 2016 to 2017 and 2025 to 2026 [Note 1]
Description of figure 8: line chart showing a large increase in closed pathways since the COVID-19 pandemic, with a marked increase in the latest year. Most pathways were closed within 26 weeks over the last decade. However, the number closed after 36 weeks has been on an upward trend since the pandemic.
Source: Referral to treatment times, Digital Health and Care Wales
Closed patient pathways by month, local health board and weeks waiting on StatsWales
[Note 1] Closed pathway waiting times data are of sufficient quality for publication but are not validated to the same extent as open pathways. They should be used to indicate how long patients waited before their pathway closed. Open pathway data provide a better overview of waiting times in the reference period.
In the financial year 2025 to 2026:
- more than 175,000 ophthalmology patient pathways closed, an increase of 46.5% from the previous year
- 51.1% of pathways were closed within 26 weeks of waiting, 1.9 percentage points lower than in the previous year
- 7.5% of patient pathways were closed between 26 to 36 weeks of waiting, an increase of 2.1 percentage points from the previous year
- 41.4% of patient pathways were closed after more than 36 weeks waiting, a slight decrease of 0.2 percentage points from the previous year
- the number of patients whose pathways closed after 36 weeks or longer was more than four times as high as in the financial year 2019 to 2020 (the last financial year largely unaffected by the pandemic)
Figure 9: ophthalmology open patient pathways by weeks waited, per month, March 2016 to March 2026 [Note 1]
Description of figure 9: line chart showing the number of open pathways for ophthalmology increased sharply after the COVID-19 pandemic, peaking in December 2024. Since then, there has been a marked decrease reaching its lowest point in 4 years, in March 2026.
Source: Referral to treatment times, Digital Health and Care Wales
[Note 1] Open pathway data are collected at a single point in time each month.
During the financial year 2025 to 2026:
- the number of open ophthalmology patient pathways varied between 110,000 and 73,000 per month
At the end of March 2026:
- there were just over 73,000 open ophthalmology patient pathways, a decrease of 32.2% from the previous March
- 59.3% of pathways had patients waiting fewer than 26 weeks, an increase of 17.3 percentage points from the previous March
- 11.0% of pathways had patients waiting between 26 and 36 weeks, 0.7 percentage points lower from the previous March
- 29.6% of pathways had patients waiting more than 36 weeks, a decrease of 16.6 percentage points from the previous March
On 26 April 2022, the previous Welsh Government published its programme for transforming and modernising planned care and reducing waiting lists in Wales. This included ambitions to reduce the longest waiting times for all referral specialities including ophthalmology. The relevant referral to treatment times data are published here: Performance and waiting times (StatsWales).
Figure 10 shows the COVID-19 recovery plan targets data for ophthalmology referral to treatment pathways before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Figure 10: ophthalmology open patient pathways by waiting time category, per month, March 2019 to March 2026 [Note 1]
Description of figure 10: line chart showing the number of pathways where patients had the longest waits fell sharply in the last financial year.
Source: Referral to treatment times, Digital Health and Care Wales
COVID-19 recovery plan, ambitions for referral to treatment waiting times on StatsWales
[Note 1] A patient may receive their first outpatient appointment and subsequently wait a period before treatment starts.
By the end of March 2026:
- just more than 3,700 pathways had patients waiting over a year for their first outpatient appointment, a decrease of 81.0% from March 2025
- just more than 11,000 pathways had patients waiting more than a year for treatment, a decrease of 63.9% from March 2025
- 47 pathways had patients waiting for more than two years for treatment, a decrease of 96.1% from March 2025
Outpatients
Outpatients are patients who attend ophthalmology departments at an NHS hospital for treatment or consultation with a consultant or specialist nurse, without being admitted to hospital or staying overnight. Appointments with other health professionals and telemedicine are not included.
The statistics presented in this release are based on patients registered to general practices in Wales, which are slightly different to hospital outpatient statistics published on StatsWales which are based on all activity provided in Welsh hospitals.
Figure 11: ophthalmology outpatient attendances by appointment type, between financial years 2016 to 2017 and 2025 to 2026
Description of figure 11: line chart showing total attendances increased each year since the COVID-19 pandemic to a record high in the latest year. Follow-up appointments were consistently more than double the number of new appointments, although the gap narrowed in the latest year.
Source: Outpatient dataset, Digital Health and Care Wales
Number of outpatient appointments for ophthalmology on StatsWales
In the financial year 2025 to 2026:
- there were nearly 349,000 attendances for ophthalmology outpatient appointments, an increase of 2.9% from the previous year and the highest on record
- 66.2% (or 231,000) of attendances were for follow-up appointments, a decrease of 2.4% from the previous year
- 31.2% (or 109,000) of attendances were for new appointments, an increase of 15.8% from the previous year
Hospital admissions
Patients are defined as being admitted to hospital if they have an overnight stay (inpatients) or if they have an elective treatment or procedure that requires same-day discharge (day cases).
More information on admissions data is available on the Patient Episode Database for Wales (PEDW) website (Digital Health and Care Wales).
Figure 12: ophthalmology admissions, between financial years 2016 to 2017 and 2025 to 2026
Description of figure 12: line chart showing that the total number of admissions to ophthalmology departments has increased over the last 5 years. In the latest year, admissions have exceeded the pre-COVID-19 pandemic level and reached a record high.
Source: Patient Episode Database for Wales (PEDW), Digital Health and Care Wales
Number of admissions for hospital eye care in Wales on StatsWales
In the financial year 2025 to 2026:
- there were over 44,000 admissions to ophthalmology departments, a 15.9% annual increase
Of the admissions where a primary diagnosis was recorded:
- 63.1% were for cataracts, 3.2 percentage points higher than the previous year
- 14.9% were for macular degeneration, 2.3 percentage points lower than the previous year
- 2.8% were for diabetic retinopathy, 0.6 percentage points lower than the previous year
- 2.2% were for glaucoma, unchanged from the previous year
Eye care measures
Eye care measures for NHS outpatients are designed to provide a framework for new and follow-up appointments for ophthalmology patients, based on the priority and urgency of care required by each patient. These measures are reported in addition to the current referral to treatment waiting times.
Monthly data on eye care measures have been published on StatsWales since April 2019 and more detail on the measures are published in the quality report.
A patient can be categorised as Health Risk Factor R1 if they are at risk of irreversible harm or significant adverse outcomes if their target date is be missed.
Figure 13: number of ophthalmology pathways for Health Risk Factor R1 patients, waiting for an outpatient appointment and appointments attended, per month, April 2019 to March 2026 [Note 1]
Description of figure 13: line chart showing a steady decrease in the number of patient pathways where high-risk patients have been waiting for an outpatient appointment over the latest year. The number had been on an upward trend in the five years prior to this. The number of attended appointments has been slightly increasing over the past three years, with some monthly variations.
Source: Eye care outcome measures, monthly submission proforma, Welsh Government
Patients waiting for an ophthalmology outpatient appointment on StatsWales
[Note 1] Attended appointments data available from April 2020 onwards.
In March 2026, where the patient was assessed as Health Risk Factor R1:
- there were nearly 156,000 open pathways, a decrease of 3.4% from March 2025
- all but 50 patient pathways had a target date allocated
- 51.0% of patient pathways had patients waiting within their target date or within 25% beyond their target date
- there were 25,300 appointments attended, an increase of 12.1% from March 2025
- in 59.8% of patient pathways where the patient attended, they had waited within their target date or within 25% beyond their target date
Further information is available through the Eye care measures publication.
Workforce
Most of the eye care workforce is based in primary care optometry settings. To practise, optometrists must be registered on either the Ophthalmic List or Ophthalmic Supplementary List, which currently provide the best available optometry workforce data. While these lists are reliable, they do not show where optometrists are currently working, and there may be a delay between a practitioner ceasing practice and being removed from the list. Data from these lists have been used from 2020 onwards. Prior to this, workforce data came from the Central Ophthalmic Payments system. The 2 sources are not directly comparable.
Ophthalmologists (medical doctors specialising in eye care) and orthoptic staff (clinicians specialising in diagnosing and treating eye movement disorders and binocular vision) are typically directly employed by the NHS and work in hospital settings. Robust workforce data for these staff are sourced from the NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR), which has been used to produce accredited official statistics for many years.
Figure 14: headcount of optometrists in primary care workforce, 2017 to 2026 [Note 1] [Note 2] [Note 3]
Description of figure 14: line chart showing the number of optometrists and ophthalmic medical practitioners has been on a broad upward trend since 2020.
Source: Central Ophthalmic Payments system (2017 to 2019), NHS England; Ophthalmic List and Ophthalmic Supplementary List (2020 onwards), NHS Shared Services Partnership
[Note 1] Also includes a small number of ophthalmic medical practitioners working in optometry. Full-time equivalent data not available.
[Note 2] Data for 2017 to 2019 refer to 31 December in each year. Data from 2020 onwards refer to 31 March. Data from the 2 time periods are not directly comparable. Further information is available in the quality report.
[Note 3] The decrease in 2024 is likely to be explained by more robust validation of the Ophthalmic List and Ophthalmic Supplementary Lists, following the introduction of WGOS.
Number of ophthalmic practitioners on StatsWales
On 31 March 2026:
- there were just over 1,100 optometrists registered to work in Welsh optometry practices
- the number of optometrists registered to work was 10.3% higher than on the same date in 2025 and 29.3% higher than on the same date in 2020
- there were 75 student optometrists registered to undertake their placement, the same number as on the same date in 2025
Figure 15: ophthalmology doctors and orthoptic staff directly employed by the NHS, full-time equivalent (FTE), March 2019 to March 2026 [Note 1] [Note 2]
Description of figure 15: line chart showing that the number of FTE ophthalmology doctors has been on an overall upward trend since June 2022 and reached a record high in March 2026. The number of orthoptic staff increased between 2021 and 2024 but has since remained broadly stable with some quarterly fluctuations.
Source: NHS Electronic Staff Record, Health Education Improvement Wales
Ophthalmology staff directly employed by the NHS (full-time equivalent numbers) on StatsWales
[Note 1] Ophthalmology also includes a small number of staff coded to the medical ophthalmology speciality.
[Note 2] 1 FTE is the equivalent of a person working the standard hours for their grade (usually 37.5 hours a week).
On 31 March 2026:
- there were 165 FTE ophthalmology doctors directly employed by the NHS in Wales
- the number of ophthalmology doctors was 9.8% higher than on the same date in the previous year and 15.1% higher than on the same date 5 years ago
- there were 93 FTE orthoptic staff directly employed by the NHS in Wales
- the number of orthoptic staff was 4.0% lower than on the same date in the previous year, but 36.1% higher than on the same date 5 years ago
National Survey for Wales
Eye care questions were last included on the financial year 2024 to 2025 National Survey for Wales. This included the questions:
- roughly how often do you have your eyes tested?
- why haven’t you had your eyes tested more frequently?
Diabetic Eye Screening Wales (DESW)
Quality and methodology information
Detailed quality information is published in the quality report.
Official statistics status
All official statistics should show the standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics (UK Statistics Authority).
These are accredited official statistics. They were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) in June 2012. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.
It is Welsh Government’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected of accreditation. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with OSR promptly. Accreditation can be cancelled or suspended at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when standards are restored.
Accredited official statistics (OSR) are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.
Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
All of our statistics are produced and published in accordance with a number of statements and protocols to enhance trustworthiness, quality and value. These are set out in the Welsh Government’s Statement of Compliance.
These accredited official statistics demonstrate the standards expected around trustworthiness, quality and public value in the following ways.
Trustworthiness
The published figures are compiled by professional analysts using the latest available data and applying methods using their professional judgement and analytical skillset.
The statistics are based on long-established administrative sources. For example, most primary care activity data are sourced from claims submitted for payment by optometry practices; secondary care statistics are sourced from various databases which record where patients are in the health system; and workforce data are sourced from either the registrations to work or from NHS HR systems. These are the best available sources for this information and provide a high degree of confidence that the large majority of activities/patients/staff are counted at relevant stages.
These statistics are pre-announced on the Statistics and Research area of the Welsh Government website. Access to the data during processing is restricted to those involved in the production of the statistics, quality assurance and for operational purposes. Pre-release access is restricted to eligible recipients in-line with the Code of Practice for Statistics.
Quality
Statistics published by Welsh Government adhere to the Statistical Quality Management Strategy which supplements the Quality pillar of the Code of Practice for Statistics and the European Statistical System principles of quality for statistical outputs.
Where there are data quality issues, they are stated in the release and on StatsWales.
Value
The purpose of this statistical release is to provide a compendium of statistical information about eye care in Wales, including both primary and secondary care activity, as well as providing workforce information in both sectors.
These statistics are published annually, primarily based on the financial year that ended six months prior to publication. An in-depth report is published in HTML format with analysis, charts and commentary focusing on the latest financial year. These are accompanied by a range of StatsWales tables which provide a wide coverage of specific eye care data.
Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFG)
The Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 is about improving the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of Wales. The Act puts in place 7 wellbeing goals for Wales. These are for a more equal, prosperous, resilient, healthier and globally responsible Wales, with cohesive communities and a vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language. Under section (10)(1) of the Act, the Welsh Ministers must (a) publish indicators ('national indicators') that must be applied for the purpose of measuring progress towards the achievement of the wellbeing goals, and (b) lay a copy of the national indicators before Senedd Cymru. The 46 national indicators were laid in March 2016.
Information on the indicators, along with narratives for each of the well-being goals and associated technical information is available in the Wellbeing of Wales report.
Further information on the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
The statistics included in this release could also provide supporting narrative to the national indicators and be used by public services boards in relation to their local wellbeing assessments and local wellbeing plans.
Contact details
NHS workforce and primary care statistics
Email: stats.healthinfo@gov.wales
Media: 0300 025 8099
SFR 78/2026
