01 October 2026
New figures from Public Health Scotland revealed an increase in the numbers of NHS-funded eye examinations undertaken in the past year (April 2025–March 2026).
Approximately 2.54 million eye examinations were undertaken in Scotland between April 2025–March 2026, representing an increase of 4.44% on the previous year.
The GOS Specialist Supplementary Service (GOS-SS) was introduced in August 2026, enabling independent prescribing (IP) optometrists and ophthalmic medical practitioners in Scotland to manage patients with specified anterior eye conditions within community settings.
Approximately 21,000 GOS-SS examinations were undertaken since the service was first introduced, the data revealed.
Public Health Scotland figures show that 93.7% of patients receiving an eye examination between April 2025 and March 2026 were not referred for further investigation, “demonstrating that most patients were managed within community optometry.”
The number of referrals to a hospital increased from 21,500 in 2006–2007 to more than 119,500 in 2025–2026, however, the report notes that this is a stable trend in line with the overall increase in eye examinations. Meanwhile, referrals to a GP have declined from 45,000 to less than 24,000.
GOS Specialist Supplementary Service in practice
OT asked AOP Councillors representing optometrists in Scotland to share their reflections on the GOS activity statistics.
IP optometrist and practice owner, Johnathan Waugh, told OT: “Overall I think it’s good news for Scotland that the message is getting out there and more people are getting their eye examinations.”
That being said, he would like to see the Government produce more public health awareness on eye examinations.
When it comes to the proportion of examinations that fall under the category of specialist supplementary services, Waugh told OT: “I think the important background to the GOS-SS is that this was an acknowledgement by Government that we were already managing these conditions.”
This move allows practices to claim a higher fee for those examinations and acknowledges that these types of conditions take longer to manage, require a higher level of skill, and potentially more repeat appointments – and can therefore be more intrusive on clinic planning, Waugh pointed out.
He commented: “It’s great to see 21,000 GOS-SS over the year across Scotland.”
Having these numbers recorded is important as it illustrates the work IP optometrists have been doing to manage conditions, Waugh said.
The hope is that these figures will illustrate the effectiveness of the service and encourage the Government to add more conditions in future.
Waugh said: “There are probably a few more that they could look at – and hopefully this gives enough weight to show that the service is effective and successful and there will be other numbers that hopefully give them reassurance that they could expand the service and include more conditions in the future.”
I think the important background to the GOS-SS is that this was an acknowledgement by Government that we were already managing these conditions
Frances Jamieson, an IP optometrist and practice owner, shared her personal reflections of GOS-SS, telling OT: “My experience of the specialist supplementary service so far has been that fewer cases than I would think fall under the higher renumerated category.”
The AOP Councillor continued: “To claim the higher fee, the condition needs to require stage two treatment – and a surprisingly high number of cases can be fully treated in stage one. I guess this is testament to how good the scope of practice is within Scotland, even without independent prescribing.”
Jamieson added that, with Pharmacy First operating in Scotland, any optometrist can manage a “good percentage” of acute cases.
The conditions Jamieson has primarily seen under the specialist supplementary exam have been acute anterior uveitis, herpes simplex keratitis, and foreign body removal.
Deprivation, referrals, and clinical conditions
Data shared by Public Heath Scotland showed that people living in more deprived areas of Scotland were less likely to have attended a primary eye examination compared to those living in less deprived areas.
Examination rates were 29.3% in the most deprived areas, compared with 35.7% in the least deprived.
The number of spectacles, lenses and supplements claimed with a GOS voucher during the period tracked was more than 408,000.
Data from GOS forms on how the patient accessed the eye examination indicates 1.2 million self-referrals were recorded in both 2024–2025 and 2025–2026. However, it was noted that this figure fell by just under 10,000 year-on-year, representing a 0.8% decrease.
Commenting on the proportion of the population receiving routine eye care in the most deprived areas, Waugh said: “I think there is obviously work – as there always is – in reaching out to these populations and trying to get them to engage with healthcare. Particularly because in Scotland it’s all funded by the NHS.”
He questioned whether a misconception that eye examinations mean ‘expensive glasses’ could be partly behind the lower numbers of people in more deprived areas accessing eye care.
Data gathered also included any clinical conditions relevant to eye care that are recorded on the GOS(S)1 form, including cataracts, glaucoma, diabetes, smoking status, and myopia.
Looking at the report, Jamieson noted the “useful epidemiological information” gathered – particularly for as an indicator for myopia prevalence.
She said: “The recent change to logging all myopia cases allows us to work out what percentage of the population has a refractive error, and within that, the proportion that are myopic.”
“With myopia being a hot topic, this is a valuable UK-based database,” she added.
Domiciliary eye care
In domiciliary eye care, 61,200 visits were undertaken, which Public Health Scotland highlighted is the highest reported figure to date. However, the rate remains similar to previous years at 2.4% of all exams.
Looking at the domiciliary figures, Waugh shared: “It’s worrying that there are so few and it makes me wonder what can be done to improve that graph.”
Figures estimate Scotland has a population of more than 5.5 million. Waugh suggested: “A lot of those people are getting older. If we’re only doing 60,000 domiciliary examinations every year; that must be a fraction of the number of people who are entitled.”
This could be an issue of awareness, he shared, suggesting: “I think we could be doing a lot more work to promote home visits and domiciliary care.”
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