Ophthalmic workload statistics
Statistics as at year ending March 2025
Accredited official statistics
- Published
- 30 September 2025 (Latest release)
- Type
- Statistical report
- Author
- Public Health Scotland
About this release
NHS eye examinations in Scotland are provided by eye care professionals who use a wide variety of tests and procedures to examine the eyes of a patient during an examination.
This annual release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) provides information on NHS funded eye examinations provided by community optometrists under General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) arrangements and NHS optical voucher claims for 2024/25, with comparisons to previous years.
Main points
In 2024/25
- Approximately 2.44 million eye examinations were undertaken in Scotland, an increase of 0.71% compared to 2023/24.
- 93.4% of patients receiving an eye examination were not referred for further investigation.
- The proportion of the population receiving routine (primary) eye examination was 29.0% in SIMD 1 (most deprived) and 34.4% in SIMD 5 (least deprived).
1 In April 2010 and October 2018, changes in legislation reduced the frequency and circumstances under which a primary examination can be undertaken. If these conditions are not met, only a supplementary examination can be claimed for payment.
Background
NHS funded eye examinations in Scotland are provided by community optometrists and ophthalmic medical practitioners under General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) arrangements. This publication includes information on GOS eye examinations as well as NHS optical vouchers, which are issued to eligible persons to provide help towards the cost of glasses and contact lenses. It does not provide information on eye examinations or eyecare services provided in hospitals or privately.
Ophthalmic payment claims are submitted by ophthalmic practices to Practitioner Services Division (PSD) for processing.
Data reported in this publication is taken from claim forms in the year in which the claim was paid.
Additionally demographic information on patients is available throughout this report.
See Ophthalmic Report for further information.
Further information
The next release of this publication will be 15 September 2026.
General enquiries
If you have an enquiry relating to this publication, please email phs.ophthalmicInfo@phs.scot.
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Older versions of this publication
Versions of this publication released before 16 March 2020 may be found on the Data and Intelligence, Health Protection Scotland or Improving Health websites.