Details emerging from the report of Scotland's Independent Budget Review Panel make the end of free eye examinations in Scotland a likely outcome.
The report, commissioned by ministers, suggests that introducing charges of between £20 and £40 for an NHS eye examination for non-exempt categories of people could generate savings of between £46m and £93m.
Suggesting that the Scottish government consider immediate action to review eligibility for NHS eye examinations, the report revealed that since their introduction in 2006 costs have increased from £18m in 2005-06 to £67m in 2009-10. Annual take up in those four years has almost doubled from one million to 1.8 million and tests account for approximately 75 per cent of Scotland's annual General Ophthalmic Services budget.
Despite presentations from Optometry Scotland (OS) and Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland about the benefits of free testing, the panel reasoned that a significant proportion of people currently benefiting from free tests could also afford to pay for them.
It added that it understood the re-introduction of charging might result in a reduction in the number of tests and that there was an option that would involve the re-introduction of selective charging. Since the publication of the report, OS said that it would be seeking discussions with the Scottish government over the issue (News 06.08.10).
The panel recommended that certain groups of people including children and those aged 60 or over should continue to be exempt from fees as they were prior to 2006.
The amount of savings assume that the number of people previously entitled to receive free sight tests would remain the same, while the take up of eye examinations for those who would be charged would drop back to the level of eye tests prior to 2006.
Moneo writes - page 10
A final recommendation from the panel was for the Scottish government to continue to work with the optical profession to identify any further action to control costs.