Is there a place for professionalism?

Speaking as one who has just earned very little for a day's work addressing patients' medical needs, it does leave me wondering why I bothered obtaining 50 CET credits last year, because it certainly doesn't pay. Is it not time for the General Optical Council to break with tradition and enter the fee negotiations on the basis of preserving the public's interests, by ensuring that being professional and not reliant on dispensing is still a viable option for the optometrist? Andrew Jarvis Stalybridge, Cheshire