.png){kind=small}
public confidence in eye care is up. is your career keeping pace?
- Rob Mould
- Jul 16
- 3 min read
The latest research from the General Optical Council (GOC) paints a positive picture for optometry. Public confidence is high, more people are getting their eyes tested, and more people now see optometrists as the first place to go when something doesn't feel right.
That's all good news.
But dig a little deeper and the report also reveals that access to eye care still depends heavily on income, circumstance and postcode.
Here's what it means for practices and the people who work in them.
plenty to be positive about.
The GOC’s annual public perceptions research, published on 30 June, found that 94% of people expect to receive good care from their optician.
Overall satisfaction with visits to optical practices also increased, rising from 87% to 89%.
Even more encouraging, 84% of people said they'd had a sight test or eye examination in the past two years, up from 80% in 2025.
Perhaps the biggest shift is where people are choosing to go when they have an eye problem. Around 41% said they'd visit their optometrist or primary eye care service first, compared with 23% who would see their GP.
For a profession that's spent years highlighting the role optometry can play in primary healthcare, that's a significant step forward.
where the eye care picture darkens.
The headline figures are encouraging, but they don't tell the whole story.
For people facing multiple challenges, whether that's disability, financial hardship or major life events such as bereavement, confidence fell to 82%, compared with 97% for those who weren't.
The report also found that people on lower incomes and those living in more deprived areas were less likely to have had a recent sight test. In fact, one in five people living in the most deprived areas hadn't had one in the past two years.
Cost sits underneath much of this. Among people who felt uncomfortable visiting a practice, the price of glasses or contact lenses was the biggest single concern, followed by the price of the sight test itself.
so what happens next?
The GOC has tied these findings to its 2025-30 strategy commitment to fairer eye care.
As part of that work, it's reviewing commercial practices across the sector, including how clearly practices communicate sight test pricing and NHS eligibility. The findings are expected later this year.
Whether new guidance follows or not, conversations around affordability and transparency are unlikely to disappear anytime soon.
what practices and professionals can take from this.
For practice owners, the report is both a compliment and a to-do list:
The compliment: the public trusts the profession and increasingly treats it as primary care
The to-do list: look honestly at who isn't walking through your door, and why
Sometimes improving access doesn't require sweeping changes. Clearer information about costs, helping people understand NHS support they're entitled to, and making services more accessible for those with additional needs can all make a real difference.
There's a workforce dimension too. As more people look to optometry as their first point of contact, practices need the teams to keep up with growing demand. But recruiting skilled clinicians and support staff isn't always straightforward, especially in the areas where access to care is already more limited.
Closing that gap will take more than policy changes. It also means helping great people find the practices where they're needed most.
how talentshed can help.
We speak to practices and candidates every day, so we see these challenges from both sides.
Practices want to build teams that can deliver brilliant patient care without stretching the people they already have. Professionals are looking for workplaces where they can do their best work and feel supported while they do it.
Helping bring those two together is what we do.
So whether you're growing your team or thinking about your own next move, we're always happy to have a conversation.
Get in touch with our team about...
