Levy for paper forms in Scotland

Optometry Scotland has expressed its dismay over the Practitioner Services Division’s (PSD) decision to charge practices 45p for paper submission of GOS claims forms.

In a letter sent to practitioners in Scotland in late March, PSD associate director, Martin Morrison, said the intention of the charges was to recover costs of the interim dual system and provide a launchpad for practices to adopt electronic claims.

The charge for paper forms was outlined in December 2016 in an announcement about the online claim system, but Optometry Scotland said it had spent months attempting to negotiate with the PSD.

‘Whilst we accept that both financial and personnel resource has been made available to develop the web form and engage with willing Practice Management System (PMS) suppliers for quite some time now, we strongly object to the introduction of charges which we feel is premature,’ said Nicola McElvanney, Optometry Scotland chair.