In focus: Turning the system on its head

A manifesto that outlined a restructuring of the General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) system so the skills of optometrists are utilised and recognised nationally has been launched by the Association for Independent Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians (AIO).

Christian French, chair of the optical body, told Optician the AIO received unanimous support for the manifesto and its message for eye care provision in England to move away from a fractious way of working under Clinical Commissioning Groups to a unified national approach.

‘There’s this growing expectation of things we’re expected to do as part of a routine eye exam but the fee remains exactly the same year on year and there’s no improvement,’ French said.