Eligibility extension has little effect

The new edition, the 20th year that the Federation of Ophthalmic and Dispensing Opticians has published its statistical digest, states that the latest total number of sight tests (16.2m 1999-2000) is in line with the expected normal annual growth in volume. This is despite the Department of Health's extension of eligibility for NHS eye examinations to those aged 60 and over. 'The figures indicate that the extension of eligibility has not had the desired effect of significantly increasing the number of people having their sight tested,' the FODO document reads. Its own survey, compiled from over four million sight tests from members between April 1 1999 and March 31 2000, revealed that 43 per cent were paid for privately. In 1998/99 this figure was 55 per cent, reflecting the effect on the multiples of the new eligibility for the 60+ age group. The average interval between sight tests in the survey was just over two years and three months, a rising trend as the interval has increased by a month in each of the last three years. Over 3.5m spectacle dispensings were recorded in the FODO survey. The average private retail spend was &\#163;125.59 (1998-99: &\#163;115.63), and &\#163;58.18 with NHS vouchers (&\#163;66.28). The least expensive spectacles were &\#163;47.25 (&\#163;51.19), and the average spend overall was &\#163;108.19 (&\#163;105.10).