Optics to meet peers in charm offensive

Optics is to embark on an influence-seeking charm offensive in 2006, the year of the GOS review.

The profession will take its campaign on the future of eye care to members of the House of Lords later this month, when peers will be informed at the Institute of Optometry prior to the Health Bill being discussed in the House of Lords.

The optical bodies — the AOP, ABDO and FODO — will give members of the upper house a briefing at the London-based Institute on the profession's contribution to the Health Service, the importance of eye examinations and what the public receive when they get vision correction.

Their Lordships will also hear why national frameworks are necessary for the profession, and why it has been fighting a campaign against government proposals made last year.

Following Caroline Flint's reassuring messages in Parliament (Page 4) the bodies intend to flag up their anxiety over possible changes to domiciliary regulations, given that the minister hinted PCTs could commission services to housebound people, thus potentially limiting the number of providers.

The meeting with peers will be one of the first in a series of events in which the profession will take part in a concerted effort to improve and widen its profile. The first will take place next week in the House of Commons, hosted by the RNIB, with the launch of a new campaign on preventable vision loss.

This will be followed by the meeting with peers at the Institute before the profession makes its presence felt at the NHS Confederation conference in the summer when the optical bodies will seek to influence NHS and PCT managers on the importance of eye care.

Finally, in the autumn, there will be an optical presence at the three major political party conferences to reiterate the message to politicians as the GOS review progresses.