10 August 2026
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.
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.
Two new ministers join the Department of Health and Social Care
Diana Johnson and Alison McGovern have joined the department under new health secretary Yvette Cooper
Optometry: uniquely placed to support change
The AOP has welcomed the appointment of James Frith MP as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for eye care.
AOP chief executive, Adam Sampson, noted that Frith “takes on this important brief at a pivotal time for eye care and for the NHS.”
The appointment also comes at a vital moment for primary care, he emphasised.
“The Government has set out a clear ambition to move the NHS from hospital to community, with more care delivered locally and outside hospital settings. Primary care services, including eye care, are at the heart of this transformation,” Sampson said.
Optometry is well-placed to assist in this change, he noted.
“Optometry already provides accessible, high quality clinical care in communities across the country and has the capacity and expertise to do much more,” Sampson said.
He added: “Moving appropriate eye care out of hospitals and into community optometry in England is a practical example of how the Government’s ambition for neighbourhood health can work in practice.”
Sampson emphasised that Frith has previously engaged with optometry, acknowledging his visit to Leighton's Opticians in 2025.
“James Frith will already have seen the contribution that community optometry can make. His previous engagement with the profession, including seeing enhanced eye care in action in his own constituency, gives him valuable insight into how optometrists are supporting patients and developing new models of care,” Sampson said.
He added: “The challenge now is to turn that understanding into concrete steps. We need eye care to be properly integrated into neighbourhood health services, with commissioning and funding models that enable optometrists and dispensing opticians to provide a wider range of NHS care.
“Better digital connectivity and stronger links between community and hospital services will be essential if patients are to experience genuinely joined-up care.”
Eye care is too often treated as separate from the wider NHS, Sampson acknowledged.
Instead, it should be recognised as an essential part of the Government’s plans to shift care out of hospitals, improve prevention, and tackle health inequalities, he believes.
Sampson added: “Community optometry is already on the High Street, close to where people live and work, and is uniquely placed to support this change.
“The new Parliamentary Under-Secretary has an opportunity to make eye care a leading example of the Government’s shift from hospital to community. We look forward to working with him and colleagues across the department to ensure that patients can access more eye care services closer to home, while making better use of NHS resources and reducing avoidable pressure on hospitals.”
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