Our five-year strategy 2026–2030

The future of the profession has never been more exciting, but the urgency to act and shape the future could not be more profound. That’s why in our five-year strategy 2026-2030 we are advocating for fresh thinking and bold ambition – including the need to further optimise the role that our profession plays to support the NHS in the big shifts from hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. We recognise the need to address and respond to the impact of changes to the way health and social care is commissioned and delivered, to new technologies, and to regulatory and legislative reform. It is crucial that we make sure that, on this journey, optometry across every part of the UK is optimised.

Our strategy sets out the factors that underpin our vision, our key priorities, and the projects we are prioritising in the next five years. It also describes the work we undertook for our previous strategy, and what we are proud to have achieved.

The success of our new strategy will be built on constructive and collaborative relationships with stakeholders across eye care – and beyond. And at the heart of everything we do is our members.

We remain committed to providing services that meet the highest standards; providing our members with the defence they need and support whatever their career path; ensuring our members are equipped to deliver safe and effective clinical care to the public; and help to ensure optical businesses can be sustainable, resilient and growing.

This strategy uses our strengths as an organisation – our bedrock of member support, our established services, our strong financial platform, our growing external influence – and sets out an ambitious programme of activity for the next few years. We look forward to working with everyone interested in the health of the nation’s eyes to deepen still further the role the optometry profession plays in the NHS and the wider UK economy.

The context

Our strategy comes at a time when the world in which the eye care profession operates is changing quickly. The UK economy, in common with much of the world, is under pressure and the financial future is uncertain. The speed at which new technologies are changing both the nature of work and of healthcare is ever-quickening. And the current Labour Government has signalled its intention to reform the way the NHS operates, envisioning through its 10-Year Health Plan an expanded role for neighbourhood health and community healthcare providers.

In this world of risk and opportunities, it remains the AOP’s duty and privilege to represent almost 20,000 eye care practitioners who are our members. It is our role to support them in their professional enterprises, to help them grow their skills and pursue their career goals, to protect them when they find themselves in conflict with their employers or the regulator, or have clinical claims against them.

And, at a more structural level, it is our role to seek to further the interests of the profession as a whole. This five-year strategy responds to the changes outlined: working to create conditions where businesses and careers can thrive; helping the profession navigate the challenges and opportunities represented by new technology (and making best use of that technology in our own internal business processes); and, above all, seeking to take advantage of the Government’s commitment to making more use of community providers such as optometrists in the provision of healthcare.

Our strategic vision

Our new five-year strategy is ambitious — but rooted in realism. It builds on our experience, knowledge and achievements, responding pragmatically and creatively to the sector-wide impact of new technologies, regulatory and legislative reform, and changes in how health and social care are commissioned and delivered. We have four core strategic objectives that are built on our core values and our purpose. They will help ensure members not only have a say on how their profession develops, but are well equipped, supported and ready for the future of optometric care.

1. We will support the clinical future of the profession

While the retail aspects of eye care underpin the economics of the optometry sector, the profession has clinical excellence at its heart and our members’ aspirations are to extend the clinical reach of their work. Collaborating with others in the sector, we will champion the clinical role the optometry profession plays across the four nations, supporting the clinical skills of optometrists and dispensing opticians and the delivery of services to meet patient needs and aspirations. We will take into account the fast-developing world of technological innovation, which will both support and challenge the traditional role of optometrists and dispensing opticians.

2. We will extend our external engagement and influence

Our mission is to support and defend our members as individuals and to promote the interests and the future of the profession as a whole. Over the past few years, we have established ourselves as the most influential sector body in optometry. We will now use that influence – both on our own and with sector partners – to secure a greater role for optometry in the reformed NHS which the Government is seeking to build in England. At the same time, we intend to deepen our influence in the other nations of the UK, working as appropriate with the sector bodies in those nations too.

3. We will deepen our member offer

Above all, we are a membership organisation, and members remain at the heart of everything we do. Building on our highly rated membership service and benefits package, we will extend our offer to meet evolving member needs. This includes providing appropriate educational services in a changing professional development landscape and strengthening our support for members facing employment issues.

4. We will continue to build an organisation fit for the future
   Like any successful organisation, we are constantly looking to adapt to the latest challenges and opportunities, be they the changing nature of the eye care profession or the rapid pace of technological change. We will therefore continue to update and modernise our IT infrastructure to build efficiencies and improve our service to members. We will also continue to examine ways of growing our member base and giving maximum benefit to our existing members.

The work starts now

We have 80 years of experience in supporting our members and advocating for the profession; this loyalty, affection and trust is a privilege – and one that must continue to be earned with current and future generations. As the world changes, our five-year strategy will make sure we adapt the way we work, deepening and extending our services to support members facing new challenges and opportunities, and update our policies to make an even more compelling case to those we are trying to influence.

Read more about our purpose and values.

Read more about our governance and structure.