Orthoptic Workforce Survey
The Orthoptic Workforce Survey collects information from all orthoptic departments across the UK to give us a clear picture of our workforce.
- We send out a Heads and Lead Orthoptists Questionnaire annually to gather information to identify trends, challenges, and opportunities to inform future workforce planning.
- Every two years, we run a full Activity Survey, detailing what each member of the workforce is doing across a two-week period and to ensure that we have a clear profile of the current workforce and their clinical and non-clinical activity.
This information is used to help discussions at local, regional and national levels and provide clear benchmarking data along with future predictions of workforce for the profession.
Orthoptic Workforce Report
In 2025, NHS England commissioned a survey report to contribute to the continued planning for workforce development and feed into NHS strategic plans such as the 10-year plan and the Long-Term Workforce Plan. The final report presents the findings of our latest workforce surveys and provides a narrative to give a picture of the current orthoptic workforce in England.
Latest Reports
Our next survey will be a Heads and Leads Questionnaire in April 2026. If you have any questions about any of our surveys, please get in touch at workforcesurvey@bios-orthoptics.org.uk.
Members can access the summary data from our most recent workforce surveys below.
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