The Central Fund (CF) came into existence in February 1972, following a resolution at the previous Local Optical Committees (LOC) conference. The idea was instigated by the Joint Council of Ophthalmic Opticians (JCOO ) who were based at Brook Street with the then British Optical Association The Terms of Reference were adopted in 1973 and later the Rules of the Fund were agreed. It was founded to promote and protect the interests of all LOCs and their members and to assist people or companies who would undertake work centrally on behalf of the profession as a whole and LOCs in particular. It has aimed over the years of its existence to provide finance, not available from other sources in the profession, for such activities.
Throughout the life of the CF the donations have been managed and distributed by five administrators, representing the various regions of England and Wales.
To fund this work a voluntary levy was collected, which was originally set at 0.5 per cent of the sight test fee, from those optometrists who were willing to contribute to this work. At its foundation 85 per cent of LOCs, were donating to the newly formed CF.
In the early days the CF supported the work of Whitley Council, which negotiated fees for the NHS professions, these not only concerned dispensing and examination fees but also the cost of every single lens power, frame and case. It also provided funds for the Economic Advisory Committee which undertook the research for these negotiations. Later on the introduction of the voucher system greatly reduced the impact of this work and the Fund was able to consider other uses of its money.
The CF has made contributions to work on behalf of the optical profession, in the political arena. In 1980/81 the profession came under concentrated attack from the media and commercial interests. To help combat the adverse publicity the CF allocated £20,000 towards a counter publicity campaign launched by the AOP in defence of the profession.
When the VAT issue reared its ugly head the CF was able to contribute substantially to the fighting fund of the AOP. As some will remember, the case was won. The CF also gave money towards Common Market affairs
By 2004, the annual amount being given to the AOP for shared care had risen to £86,270 together with £65,000 to retain the services of key personnel within the AOP who are engaged in political and parliamentary consultancy. These areas continue to grow in importance for the profession.
Over the years the AOP has been involved in many meetings, discussions and correspondence with various government departments, in negotiations that help every member of the profession. The CF has contributed £55,000 towards regional seminars and the 'Primary Care Resource Pack'. The AOP still continues to negotiate on primary care issues and the CF would like to continue to financially support these.
The CF has given monies in support of many and various schemes, ventures and projects. In 2003 it contributed £40,000 for the refurbishment of the John Francis Teaching Clinic at the Institute of Optometry.
It totally funded Optometry Wales in its Welsh Eyecare Review and, more recently, parliamentary lobbying.
The CF largely paid for OCCS in its formative years in total £190,000 was given, with little help from elsewhere. The case was constantly fought that it should be supported by all optometrists. Eventually the GOC took over responsibility which would have been welcomed by all concerned at that time.
Most recently the entire cost of the National Eye Health Epidemiological Model (NEHEM) Part 1, has been financed by the CF. It is hoped that there will be sufficient reserves for the CF to fully fund the NEHEM, Part 2, which will look at the amount of uncorrected refractive error in the population.
In February this year, the CF agreed to donate £50,000 to the Eye Health Alliance towards the cost of promoting optometry in the run-up to the general election. This covers a full 50 per cent of the estimated cost of the lobbying campaign that will be undertaken by Luther Pendragon.
Beneficial links
The CF has always had strong links with the LOCs, indeed its full title is The Central (Local Optical Committee) Fund and the NEHEM can be used as a reliable source of information by LOCs when negotiating for Enhanced Services for optometry, with the PCTs. So, while few optometrists and dispensing opticians are directly involved with their LOCs, the evidence gathered by projects supported by the CF can be used to benefit the optical professions as a whole.
The administrators would like to convey their sincere thanks to all optometrists who have generously contributed to the work of the CF, by the simple act of signing the mandate to pay the voluntary levy. Their thanks also go to those LOCs who have collected the voluntary levy in the past and to those who continue to do so. It has been the desire of all administrators, past and present, that every LOC should promote a voluntary levy to be able to raise the funds needed.
In recent years the number of independent optometrists has fallen, as the number of employees and locums has increased, thus those who are able, traditionally, to donate has decreased. However, the voluntary levy is not the only way that contributions can be made to the CF. All members of the optical professions are able to give via donations. Shortly all optometrists and dispensing opticians will receive a letter, requesting that donations be made to the CF, thus enabling its valuable work to continue. ?