Wholesaler Costco has voluntarily withdrawn from the General Ophthalmic Lists of the 16 primary care trusts (PCTs) where it has optical outlets, Optician has learnt.
The issue of the wholesaler providing General Ophthalmic Services (GOS) came to a head when a judgement at the Royal Courts of Justice on February 19 found that in providing GOS, Costco would be in contravention of regulation 13a of the Health and Social Care Act 2001 in not being open to all individuals. Costco only allows members, who pay a £25 annual fee, and their guests to shop at its premises. At the time Costco told Optician it was reconsidering how it provided GOS services. The case came about after Costco appealed against Milton Keynes PCT’s decision not to allow a Costco practice on its ophthalmic list.
A number of PCTs contacted by Optician confirmed that Costco was no longer on their lists to provide GOS.
‘Costco voluntarily withdrew from its optometry contract with this PCT on May 8 2008. Should the company wish to restart the provision of this service, it would need to make a new contract application. To date, we have not received such an application,’ said a spokesman for Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT.
This development was also confirmed by Tom Wilson, director of contracts for Milton Keynes PCT. He told Optician that Costco voluntarily withdrew from the lists of the 16 PCTs just before a Family Health Service Appeals Authority (FHSAA) hearing on May 12 (to determine the issue of disqualification for Costco from any ophthalmic list) was due to take place.
He explained that the matter of national disqualification had been referred back to the FHSAA by the High Court in February. The referral was made with the High Court refusal of Coscto’s appeal against a verdict by the FHSAA to uphold Milton Keynes PCT’s decision to reject Costco’s application.
When contacted by Optician, a FHSAA spokesperson said no verdict for the May 12 hearing had yet been reached.