You Won’t See It Coming campaign during Glaucoma Awareness Week

The AOP is highlighting how a postcode lottery is driving late diagnosis and treatment, leading to preventable sight loss

Over half (54%) of UK optometrists have seen a patient in the last 12 months who has permanently lost sight due to late detection or delays in treatment for glaucoma, according to new research from the Association of Optometrists (AOP).[i]

The AOP is calling for an ‘overhaul of health’ in England to prevent further failures and ensure High Street optometrists can protect the public’s eye health by detecting, monitoring and treating glaucoma, easing the burden on hospital eye services.

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible sight loss worldwide, and affects around 700,000 people in the UK. Studies show that almost half of all cases are undiagnosed^[ii], with some patients losing significant vision before they realise there is a problem.

With glaucoma and other eye conditions expected to rise by 25% over the next decade^[iii] – and NHS services already under pressure the AOP urges immediate action.

Matt Weale, 54, was diagnosed with glaucoma after a routine eye test in early 2021 revealed dangerously high pressure in his left eye: “By the time I was finally offered a follow-up appointment, my vision had already started to deteriorate. I felt like I was falling through the cracks, and it was terrifying – not knowing if I was going to lose my sight because the system was too stretched to see me.”

Reforms to the Welsh eye care system in 2022 has meant that optometrists can now offer glaucoma services in Wales on the High Street, easing the burden on hospital eye clinics.

The schemes now exist in Scotland and in some areas of England and are shown to halve referral rates^[iv] by helping patients to get care closer to home.

But access to these services depends on where you live and patients are facing a postcode lottery, with worse outcomes for those in areas without locally commissioned schemes.

Adam Sampson, Chief Executive of the AOP said: “The current approach to glaucoma in England is failing the public. Each year, people are faced with the reality of permanent sight loss as a direct result of delays to care and inconsistencies in eye care provision.

“But glaucoma services led by optometrists show that it does not need to be this way.

“The research we have conducted reveals a national glaucoma pathway in England could free up 300,000 hospital eye appointments and save the NHS over £12m every year.

“We are calling on the Government to act now to overhaul health in England. We must ensure High Street optometrists can protect the public by detecting, monitoring and treating glaucoma, and ease the burden on hospital eye services.”

In Gloucestershire, an enhanced glaucoma service is successfully providing care to stable glaucoma patients in a community optometry setting.

83 year old Paul Tyler, formally an MP in rural Cornwall, has been living with glaucoma for nearly 25 years but due to an early diagnosis and good management of the condition has been able to live with minimal side effects.

Paul Tyler said: “I’m very thankful for the day when I went for my usual sight check. I knew nothing about glaucoma. I had absolutely no clue that there was anything wrong and I dread to think what would have happened if I hadn’t had the diagnosis at that time. I don’t think I could have continued with my work as an MP if I’d lost sight and not been able to drive.”

Ankur Trivedi, Optometrist and glaucoma specialist for Keith Holland Opticians said: “Community optometrists undergo at least four years of clinical and professional training to spot eye health conditions as well as treat many of the most common ones.

“We know that services, like the one here in Gloucestershire, that enable patients with suspected glaucoma to be referred to a qualified optometrist for further investigation rather than go straight into a hospital as well as monitoring their condition in the longer term, make a huge difference to their experience – ensuring they get the care they need, when they need it.”

The AOP’s You Won’t See It Coming campaign launched to coincide with this year’s Glaucoma Awareness Week, taking place from 30 June – 6 July 2025.

As part of the campaign, Paul Tyler and his optometrist, Ankur Trivedi share their story in a short film.

For more information visit www.aop.org/SeeItComing.

[i] AOP Voice of Optometry research of 915 UK optometrists undertaken between Sept -October 2024.

[ii] Prevalence and severity of undetected manifest glaucoma. Results from the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial screening – PMC

[iii] Key interventions to transform eye care and eye health

[iv] Fortune telling, Optometry Today