James Frith MP takes on responsibility for eye care at the DHSC

James Frith MP has been assigned responsibility for eye care in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Frith is a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the department. This is the lowest of the three tiers of government minister.

Stephen Kinnock MP, who was made Secretary of State for Wales by Prime Minister Andy Burnham in July, previously held responsibility for eye care as the minister of state for care – one level above Frith’s new role.

Frith, who is the MP for Bury North in Greater Manchester, is also responsible for dentistry, NHS data, major and long-term conditions, medtech, international and devolved governments, men’s health, medicines, research and innovation, and rare diseases.

In summer 2025, he visited Leighton’s Opticians in Ramsbottom, in his constituency, to see the NHS-funded Easy Eye Care Service at work. Frith was hosted during the visit by SeeAbility.

Before being confirmed in his DHSC role on 22 July, he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office.

New ministers at the DHSC since Prime Minister Andy Burnham took office on 20 July include Dame Diana Johnson MP, Alison McGovern MP, and Chris McDonald MP.

Yvette Cooper MP, previously the foreign secretary, was appointed as health secretary on 20 July, replacing James Murray MP.

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