Katrina Venerus defends AQP

General practitioners have been urged to embrace NHS reforms leading to the commissioning of enhanced eye care services to the high street by Katrina Venerus.

The managing director of the Local Optical Committee Support Unit (LOCSU) wrote a Viewpoint column for GP magazine supporting the new any qualified provider (AQP) process for referral schemes.

'The reality is GPs cannot cover every primary healthcare need perfectly and we believe that contracting some specialist services to experts is a good thing - it is an extension of the GP's surgery, not a rival to it,' she wrote.

Venerus highlighted the savings afforded by services agreed by Cheshire and Stockport local optical committees after achieving AQP status.