The study has received funding from charities and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

To carry out the survey, UKNEHS medical professionals will visit 750 randomly chosen households across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough from October this year until February 2025. This will be followed by those aged 50 years and older being invited for a free specialist assessment.

Rupert Bourne, a professor of ophthalmology at ARU and chief investigator for the UKNEHS, said: “Hearing impairment costs the UK an estimated £30bn each year and visual impairment, including sight loss and blindness, £28bn.

“Despite these huge costs, the datasets currently used in the UK are of limited value, due to a reliance on international data, or UK data samples that are either very small scale, or not generalisable to the population as a whole.

“There is subsequently no robust evidence-base upon which to design a prevention strategy or plan services for the future that meet the population’s needs.”

Phase one of the study has seen UKNEHS teams visit care homes in the area to survey the sensory health of residents.

Nik Johnson, the mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said: “It’s fantastic news that out and about in the near future there will be teams visiting different areas of the county, and local people in the community will have the opportunity to get involved in this study.”