OO condemns freeze on voucher values

A Bedford optometrist has said the profession should be 'up in arms' about the government's failure to raise NHS voucher values, joining other members of the profession in condemning the decision.

Simon Browning said the visual welfare of UK patients was 'under attack', with the value of optical vouchers for children, people on low incomes and those with complex sight problems remaining unchanged in 2011-12.

He cited Royal National Institute of Blind People research which stated that one of the main reasons people didn't go for sight tests was a fear of what they'd have to pay for spectacles.

'As a result, more people won't have disease detected and potentially go blind,' he said.