World Sight Day (8 October) ‘represents a clear vision for the future and an opportunity for inspiring fresh innovation’ to help offset over 8,700 Scots losing their sight this year

That is the view of one of Scotland’s leading healthcare innovation bodies, InnoScot Health, after recent data from sight loss charity the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) revealed its belief that 8,730 people in Scotland will begin living with sight loss in 2026.

RNIB also projects that the total number of people affected is set to grow by nearly 21% to 234,000 over the next 10 years.

InnoScot Health — which launched an ophthalmology innovation call on World Sight Day in 2022 — is supporting Thursday’s message of “focusing the world’s attention on eye care that is accessible, available, and affordable to all”.

World Sight Day organisers, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), say it is an “annual reminder to #LoveYourEyes and an opportunity to join millions of people globally who understand the value of vision”.​

Head of Innovation at InnoScot Health, Robert Rea said: “The campaign notes that nearly everyone on the planet will experience an eye health issue in their lifetime, yet over a billion people still lack access to the services and treatments they need.

“Of course, that requires significant change, and Scotland is not exempt with nearly 200,000 people currently living with sight loss across the country, and figures only set to grow, driven by Scotland's ageing population as well as lifestyle factors.

“While sight loss can be prevented by routine tests, ophthalmic innovation has a role to play too in tackling the likes of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts, and diabetic retinopathy, with glaucoma alone accounting for more than 60,000 Scottish patients.”

Earlier this year, the Scottish Government confirmed community eyecare funding of £144.5 million for 2026–27, supporting universal NHS eye examinations under General Ophthalmic Services (GOS); the continued rollout of enhanced services including the Community Glaucoma Service and anterior eye condition management; and the design and development of a community low vision service.

However, Robert added: “These are very necessary initiatives, but we need more cutting-edge thinking and fresh investment in powerful, multi-disciplinary ideas spawned by NHS, academia, and industry coming together.

“Scotland’s expert ophthalmologists are best placed to identify unmet medical needs, bottlenecks in clinical ophthalmology, and patient requirements for both the present and future.

“At the same time, they are extremely busy and often do not have the commercial skillset to create and develop the solution that is required and best fits the need, so collaborative expertise is required to support them and mitigate time pressures.”

New ophthalmic facilities continue to be introduced across Scotland, offering fertile ground for the development of innovative approaches and more efficient ways of working.

In recent times, this has produced surgical efficiency through new theatre layouts, tag-team nursing models, and digital patient record integration.

The NHS Golden Jubilee Eye Centre in Clydebank, for instance, operates an innovative twin-theatre design that allows high-volume surgical workflows, performing roughly 30% of all NHS Scotland cataract procedures.

Similarly, the Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline uses a ‘Jack and Jill’ adjoining theatre layout, allowing a single surgeon to alternate seamlessly between two operating rooms while nursing staff prepare the next patient next door.

Over the past 24 years, InnoScot Health has supported and worked with NHS innovators on ophthalmic innovations including Peekaboo Vision, an app designed to help estimate vision in a young child, created by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde; and the iGrading platform, a diabetic retinopathy screening tool developed alongside NHS Grampian and the University of Aberdeen.