New ophthalmology report calls for more community services

The report highlights a critical and growing demand for ophthalmology services

Ireland needs more consultant ophthalmologists and significantly expanded eye care services in the community if it is to meet growing patient demand, according to a major new HSE national workforce report launched at the Irish College of Ophthalmologists (ICO) 2026 Annual Conference.

The Ophthalmology Medical Workforce in Ireland 2025–2040 report was formally launched by Prof Anthony O’Regan, Medical Director, HSE National Doctors Training and Planning, at the conference. The focus of this report is to provide recommendations around the number of training places at both basic and higher specialty training in medical ophthalmology and ophthalmic surgery.

The report outlines that demand for ophthalmology services will continue to rise sharply in Ireland in the coming years due to population growth, ageing demographics, and increasing rates of chronic eye disease.

It notes that current workforce capacity is inadequate. Ireland has fewer ophthalmology consultants per capita than many comparable countries with just 2.38 per 100,000 population, well below European and UK averages.

The report recommends a significant increase in consultant ophthalmologists to meet current and future demand up to 2040 (55 consultant medical ophthalmologists and up to 77 surgeons, as well as additional private capacity).

Public ophthalmology waiting lists presently exceed 47,000 patients across adult and paediatric services.

With Ireland’s population projected to exceed six million by 2040, the report concludes that urgent workforce planning and sustained investment are now required to ensure timely, high-quality eye care services for patients nationwide.

The document also calls for the continued expansion of community-delivered eye care services through multidisciplinary teams led by consultant medical ophthalmologists. The aim is to provide specialist eye care in the community with a particular focus on the four main conditions: Cataract, paediatric eye care, age-related maculopathy, and glaucoma.

Speaking at the report launch, Prof O’Regan said the current quality of medical training is “exceptionally high” in Ireland and must be supported to maintain those standards.

Ms Aoife Doyle, HSE National Clinical Lead for Ophthalmology and Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon, Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin, said: “This report sets out a clear roadmap for the future of eye care in Ireland. We need to grow our consultant workforce and continue building integrated community services so patients can access timely treatment in the right setting.”

She said the community eye care pathways already successfully introduced in some regions have reduced waiting times and improved patient access, demonstrating the benefits of integrated models of care.

Patients in these regions can access treatment closer to home through multidisciplinary eye care teams led by consultant medical ophthalmologists. However, geographic gaps remain, particularly in the south and parts of the midlands, which is reflected in waiting lists.

“Services as they currently stand are not adequate to meet current needs, both on the waiting lists and continuing care. So we need more primary care units, more investment in rolling out the model of care,” Ms Doyle told the Medical Independent (MI).

“We urgently need to meet the demand [in the areas without primary eye care teams] and not by temporary solutions. Patients need to be reviewed in short spaces of time so we need investment in primary care centres, the full multidisciplinary team, and to attract candidates of the highest quality… to ensure people do not end up going blind, that children are seen early enough to intervene when needed. So this is critically important for the HSE regions to listen to us and develop that model and invest in it.”

Speaking to MI, Prof O’Regan said that as well as the ICO training scheme’s pipeline of newly qualified posts, there are a significant number of doctors already working in non-training ophthalmology posts that can be “easily converted to a training scheme”.

“So hopefully from a training perspective that is easy enough to do as otherwise you are looking for new posts which can be challenging.”

He said the roll-out of new HSE regional structures has challenges, including risks around changing existing clinical governance structures. However, Prof O’Regan added it brings benefits in terms of thinking about networks of care and clinical teams as a whole, rather than just the consultant role.  “And there is a benefit that there is some autonomy down into the regions with more potential equity in terms of distribution.”

 While both Ms Doyle and Prof O’Regan stated they were encouraged by the quality and robustness of the new ophthalmology workforce report, its actual implementation would be the next issue.