Minister offers optics more reassurances

Optometry's future was again debated last week in the House of Commons, following on from discussions late last year (News, December 2).

And the profession continued to be boosted by more reassurances on the continuation of the present structure of service by government, although doubts were raised on the subject of domiciliary care.

Debating amendments to the Health Bill, MPs praised optometry's service and the importance of eye care to the public, and lined up to raise questions to parliamentary under secretary of state for health, Caroline Flint.

Conservative MP for Mid-Bedfordshire, Nadine Dorries, questioned Flint on the possibility that PCTs could restrict budgets to optometrists, and touched on the anger some practitioners felt when the proposals to the GOS were announced last year.

'Optometrists and opticians arewell behaved, caring professionals carrying out a vital role,' she said. 'However, as my mother-in-law frequently used to say, even a worm can turn.

'If PCTs restricted budgets to optometrists, if not every optometrist and optician could obtain a contract, one could foresee their finding a way to withdraw their services, as dentists have done.

'Then, very much like dentists, people would see optometrists and opticians as a political punch-bag, as politically motivated or affected.'

Flint reassured Parliament the Government wanted a 'sight testing service operating exactly like the general ophthalmic service that is currently in use', with centrally negotiated sight test fee and access to sight tests not constrained locally by individual PCT budgets.

She revealed that one MP - Andrew Lansley - had asked her whether a large contractor with a chain of contracts around the country could suggest to PCTs that it would provide other services without any change in the fee. 'The honourable gentleman asked whether the PCT would look kindly on that contractor, rather than adding other contractors who could provide on-site services to the list.

'My advice is that we would not endorse such a tactic and we would seek to ensure that regulations would prevent that.

'I was told that it could be illegal, but the honourable gentleman should not quote me on that; the lawyers will have to look at it.'

She said reform was necessary to regularise PCTs' listing arrangements, help prevent patient fraud of 10m - a figure disputed by optics' professional bodies - and to provide more services outside hospital by community practices.

Flint said the Government had 'no intention of disrupting what I think is a very good service or unnerving those who provide it'.

David Hewlett, chief executive of FODO, commented that in the main he was happy with the minister's response.

'This was a very good outing for optics and we attained most of the reassurances we have been seeking,' he said. 'We will now have to press them during the Lords stages of the bill. Worryingly, though, the minister did refer to domiciliary services as a service that PCTs might wish to commission locally. This is of course something we will try to resist strongly through the Lords and the GOS review.'