Optometry Scotland is responsible for representing the views of the Optometry sector in Scotland
24/04/2026
We’re kicking off our manifesto series with Priority 1: Protect sight. Prevent blindness. Deliver universal access.
Community optometry is key to ensuring patients can access NHS-funded eye care quickly and locally, while supporting earlier detection and reducing pressure on hospitals.
20/04/2026
We’re marking 20 years of General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) with a new monthly blog series on the 20th!
We’re counting down to GOS20, celebrating 20 years of General Ophthalmic Services in Scotland and the impact of community optometry.
More details coming soon.
07/04/2026
Today is World Health Day.
Good eye health is essential to overall health and wellbeing. community optometry plays a vital role in early detection, prevention, and ongoing care.
Encourage your patients to prioritise their eye health and attend regular NHS-funded eye examinations.
06/04/2026
A powerful story of creativity beyond sight.
In our latest blog, Anne Dignan shares her journey as an artist living with dual sensory impairment and how adapting has shaped her creative work and identity. Anne’s experience highlights why a Community Low Vision Service in Scotland matters.
This issue covers key updates and activity from January to March 2026, including progress across our strategic priorities and ongoing work to support community optometry across Scotland.
That’s a wrap on Optometry Scotland’s Scottish Parliament exhibition!
Over the past few days, we’ve showcased the real impact of low vision and made the case for a Community Low Vision Service in Scotland.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by, and to the MSPs and stakeholders who took the time to visit the stand and speak with members from the OS team.
Together, we are building momentum for better low vision support across Scotland. This work will continue through our Short Life Working Group, bringing together optometrists, dispensing opticians and the wider optical workforce to support the development of Community Low Vision Services and strengthen community-based care.
A special thank you to our partners who helped bring the exhibition to life:
RNIB Scotland for providing low vision living aids
Munro Optometrists for providing the Lanarkshire Low Vision Kit from NHS Lanarkshire
Urquhart Opticians for providing the technology on the stand
Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans for their support, including exhibiting the powerful tactile artwork of Anne Dignan
Thank you to Anne for displaying the art work and sharing her lived experience of sight loss
And a massive thank you to our members who continue to deliver essential care within their communities!
24/03/2026
Today we began exhibiting in the Scottish Parliament to highlight the impact of low vision and the case for a Community Low Vision Service in Scotland.
Low vision affects thousands of people across the country, impacting independence, employment and quality of life. Community optometry is ready to play a central role in delivering accessible, local support.
If you’re an MSP or stakeholder, please do come along and speak to us when we exhibit again tomorrow.
And to our members, thank you for helping us raise awareness and strengthen the case for better low vision care across Scotland.
23/03/2026
When we spoke to members of the public, many shared positive experiences with their optometrists and welcomed the idea of Community Low Vision Services being available locally.
One person also highlighted the importance of eye examinations in protecting eye health urging other members of the public to attend their NHS funded eye examination.
There is clear support for accessible care, closer to home, delivered by community optometry.
With thanks to Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans for their support on this public awareness campaign we look forward our upcoming parliamentary exhibition tomorrow highlighting the need for Community Low Vision Services!
23/03/2026
What would Low Vision mean for your independence?
In this short video, we ask members of the public what they know abou the reality that around 1 in 30 people in Scotland live with sight loss face. Created with Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans. Please share to help raise awareness.
23/03/2026
Low vision affects more than the individual, it impacts the people who love and support them.
In this video, a member of the public shares their experience of their mother, who lived with macular degeneration.
A reminder of why accessible support in the community matters.
21/03/2026
Reminder re Slit lamp grant funding via PCA(O)2026(03)!
To be eligible, the portable slit lamp must be ordered between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026 and must be in your possession by 31 March 2026.
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We are a not-for-profit organisation and the only representative of Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians to the Scottish Government
Mission Statement & Objectives
Our mission is to advance world class eye care in Scotland. We will achieve this aim by:
Establishing clear aims objectives to the industry
Placing good communications and membership at the centre of our strategic plan
Securing the correct funding to facilitate our objectives
Work with industry stakeholders and the media to raise awareness of the importance of optometry in the primary care sector.
History
Through extensive negotiations, meetings, lobbying and sheer will and determination, our previous Chairmen Frank Munro, Hal Rollason and Donald Cameron led the newly formed Optometry Scotland to the introduction of the new GOS eye examination in April 2006. The introduction of the new structure of fees and standards heralded new levels of professional eye care which have become the envy of the optometry world and other professional health bodies who have learned from our experience and are now lobbying for funds. Our thanks to these pioneers of modern optometry in Scotland.
Function
Optometry Scotland is the sole negotiator for terms and conditions for the optical sector with the Scottish Government. A key aim is to negotiate the best possible fee structure in support of Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians to allow them to continue to offer increasingly vital services within primary care.
