Bringing sight to your doorstep: How Specsavers Home Visits are transforming eye care access
A pilot scheme in Yorkshire reveals the hidden scale of unmet eye care needs for people experiencing homelessness – and shows how bringing professional care directly to where people are comfortable could be the solution.
by:
22 Sep 2025
Advertorial from Specsavers
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When you’re sleeping rough or staying in temporary accommodation, an eye test isn’t exactly top priority. You’re focused on finding somewhere safe for the night, getting food, staying warm. But what happens when you can’t see properly? When your glasses were stolen or broken months ago, and you’re navigating the world in a blur?
For people experiencing homelessness, accessing eye care presents a cascade of barriers. High street opticians can feel intimidating. Appointments need booking weeks ahead. Some opticians ask for a fixed address and require identification. It’s no wonder that research shows people affected by homelessness have significantly higher rates of eye problems yet are far less likely to receive treatment.
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What if, instead of expecting people to navigate these barriers, we removed them entirely? What if eye care came to them, in places they already trust, with people they already know?
This is exactly what happened across Yorkshire over the past year. Specsavers Home Visits teams – qualified optometrists with equipment packed into portable cases – travelled to homeless shelters and day centres to conduct comprehensive eye examinations wherever people felt comfortable.
The results have been remarkable.
A joint initiative between Specsavers and the charity Vision Care, the scheme focused on reaching people affected by homelessness at places like Salvation Army Bradford, Huddersfield Mission, The Rainbow Centre in Scarborough, and other hostels and day centres across west and east Yorkshire. Over 10 months, clinical teams visited 16 locations, conducting 271 eye tests across 41 clinics and providing 231 pairs of spectacles.
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The pilot reached four times as many individuals as the static Vision Care clinic in Leeds and twice as many as the busiest two clinics in Manchester and London combined. In fact, in just over four months, they saw more people than the Leeds clinic had seen in the whole of 2023.
Behind the figures were people who had gone years without eye care. Thirty-five per cent hadn’t had an eye test in five to 10 years. Nearly half – 44% – said they had never considered an eye test a priority. More than half had lost or broken glasses, or had them stolen; 88% said they would likely not have accessed eye care without the service coming to them, and 96% rated the support positively. Twenty-one patients were referred for further treatment through primary or secondary care.
“I cannot express enough gratitude. This is the stuff that really makes a difference to people, both practically and emotionally.”
Bev Tuke, Hope Housing, Bradford
At the Rainbow Centre in Scarborough, Rose Randerson added: “All eight clients needed glasses so definitely a successful day. Can I take more dates please?”
Jordan Bruen of the Salvation Army in Bradford described the wider impact: “The process of the eye tests and efficiency in which clients were seen helped to remove significant barriers clients face when accessing healthcare.”
The pilot also showed where the system itself blocks access. Seventy-five per cent of those tested were eligible for NHS-funded eye care through General Ophthalmic Services on the high street, yet most could not get it. Current rules for a home visit, which excludes people experiencing homelessness, require three weeks’ notice and a list of named patients for mobile visits.
Vision Care is now pressing for reforms: explicit NHS eligibility for people experiencing homelessness, flexibility for mobile clinics and repair vouchers for glasses lost or damaged while rough sleeping.
For Specsavers, the lessons are clear. The company has since extended the model across the UK, encouraging Home Visits teams to partner with local homelessness services. The idea of travelling to people, rather than waiting for them to travel, has proved it can uncover need that would otherwise go unseen.
The Yorkshire pilot added something else to the picture. Travelling between towns and cities, pulling up outside churches, missions and community centres, the project demonstrated how flexible care can be when the will is there. To mark World Homeless Day in October, colleagues from across Specsavers are volunteering their time to offer clinics across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. A branded car on the road, portable equipment in the boot, and trained staff ready to set up in any spare room or hall – it’s a small change in approach, but one that can reach hundreds who would otherwise be left behind.
The question now is not whether the model works – it does – but how widely it can be adopted. To continue to build on this success, we are now trialling the concept with Vision Care in Cardiff. With need only growing, the case for taking services out on the road and into communities has never been stronger.
Specsavers has already worked with Big Issue since 2022 to provide vendors with free eye tests, glasses and ear care. The principle is the same: vision is not a luxury. It is a basic requirement for daily life – reading medication labels, travelling safely, filling in forms, applying for jobs, or simply recognising a familiar face on the street.
