Northern Ireland Primary Care Optometry Workforce Consultation 2026

Overview

Thank you for taking the time to complete the Northern Ireland Primary Care Optometry Workforce Consultation 2026.

This survey provides community optometrists and dispensing opticians with an opportunity to help shape the future of primary care optometry in Northern Ireland. By sharing information about your role, skills, experience and future plans, you will help build a clearer picture of the workforce and the opportunities and challenges facing the profession.

The information gathered will support workforce planning and help identify where additional support, training, resources and service development may be needed. It will also help improve understanding of recruitment, retention, succession planning and professional development needs across the sector.

Your views are extremely important and your responses will help inform future decisions and ensure that the needs of the profession are better understood and represented.

Why your views matter

This survey is an opportunity for community optometrists and dispensing opticians to help shape the future of primary care optometry in Northern Ireland.

Your responses will help build a better understanding of the profession, including the challenges facing the workforce, future career intentions, training and development needs, and the support required to help practices and professionals thrive.

The findings will provide valuable evidence to support future workforce planning, service development and professional support initiatives. By taking part, you can help ensure that decisions affecting the profession are informed by the experiences of those working within it every day.

We would also encourage you to share this survey with eligible optometrist and dispensing optician colleagues across your professional networks.

Every response matters. The more practitioners who participate, the more accurately the survey will reflect the realities of working in primary care optometry across Northern Ireland and the stronger the evidence base for future planning and investment.

Your experience, views and insights are invaluable in helping us understand the profession today and plan for the future. By completing this survey, you can help influence future workforce planning, support arrangements, training opportunities and service development. Your contribution will help ensure that decisions affecting primary care optometry are informed by the experiences of those working within the profession every day.

The survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

Please note that some questions use skip logic. Depending on your answers, you may be directed to different questions within the survey.

An error message will appear if a required question is not answered. Required questions must be completed before you can move to the next page.