40p increase in GOS sight fee

For the first time since 2015, the Department of Health and Social care has said it will increase GOS sight test fees, GOS CET allowances and pre-registration supervision grants from next month.

The 1.9% rise takes the current payment of £21.31 up to £21.71 – an increase of 40p.

The fees for GOS sight tests in England were last increased in April 2015 by 1%. Since then, the sector has seen five consecutive years with no fee increases, while contractors’ costs have continued to rise, with a raft of infection control measures in place following the coronavirus pandemic.

Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee chair Paul Carroll said that while the increase was welcome, it did not fully address the erosion of GOS fees by inflation in recent years.