GOS fees frozen for the fourth year in a row

The Government has announced that GOS fees have been frozen for a fourth successive year.

NHS vouchers will also be frozen, but CET fees and pre-registration grants will rise by 2%. The Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee (OFNC) has informed the Government that it cannot accept this offer and that without any improved offers, a negotiated settlement will not be possible.

The OFNC has made a bid for a 3% increase in GOS fees for mandatory services, 4% in additional services this year and for a significant rise in voucher values.

Stuart Burdett, OFNC chair, said: ‘There is no fair way this further freeze can be justified. The costs of providing NHS care have increased every bit as fast in optics as in other areas. This set-back will further convince hardworking front-line clinicians that ministers in England simply don’t value the vital services we provide to NHS patients.’