DoH statistics reveal gaps in the market

Those looking to open a new practice away from the competition may do well to view the Government's latest ophthalmic information.
And, in an overcrowded market, the current document shows where the most saturated regions are compared to the number of potential patients.
New GOS data from National Statistics for England reveals the least professionally populated - and conversely the most optically well served - in each of the 303 PCT areas.
North east Derbyshire and the Broadland area of Norfolk are the most sparsely populated, in terms of number of optometrists 'per 10,000 population', contracted to PCTs. In these two areas there are just 13 and 10 OOs contracted respectively.
Other areas where population vastly outweighs the number of OOs include west Cornwall, Greenwich in London, and west Norfolk. Those areas which are comparatively heavily populated with OOs are, in order: Kingston, Wycombe, Doncaster Central, Milton Keynes, and Chiltern & South Buckinghamshire.
The figures were revealed in the latest statistical snapshot published by the Government's Statistical Service.
According to the figures, PCTs paid for nearly 10 million NHS sight tests in England during 2003-2004, a marginal rise on the previous year. Of the latest 9.8 million sight test total, 44 per cent of these sight tests were performed on patients aged 60 or over and 23 per cent on children.
There were 3.5 million optical vouchers reimbursed for spectacles by the PCTs, representing a 1.4 per cent increase on 2002-2003, with seven out of 10 of these vouchers for the simplest single-vision lens prescription.
A Department spokesman said: 'Provisional data indicates that 321.6m was spent in total on General Ophthalmic Services, representing an increase in real terms of 3 per cent on expenditure on 2002-2003.'
With changes to the ophthalmic list pending, the statistical picture of those in practice may alter significantly. There were 8,331 ophthalmic practitioners (including OMPs) under contract to perform NHS sight tests at December 2003, an increase of 2.9 per cent on December 2002.