Senior adviser backs new deal for optics

Lobbying to secure an expanded GOS contract with improved funding received a significant boost this week.

A special adviser on public expenditure to the Commons Health Select Committee has spoken out on the side of the profession, and published a report to back his findings.

It claims that a new deal for optics would help the government's latest policies on health provision, and lead to 'new types of enterprise' for professionals.

Nick Bosanquet, professor of Health Policy at London's Imperial College - and an acknowledged expert in health economics - concludes that subsidisation of the inadequate sight test fee 'has not been an example of good practice in government contracting' and recommends increasing it.

In return for raising the fee to 37 - the cost of providing the test, reports Bosanquet - and being involved in wider services, the optical sector can make rapid progress towards the goals of the government's new White Paper on health, Our health, our care, our say.

Launching the report this week at the Institute of Optometry he said: 'There are some quick and easy wins here for the government. For relatively modest investment in primary eye care services, significant health gains can be achieved, including for those patients with long-term conditions, plus significant capacity gains in the hospital sector.'

Bosanquet said the eye care pilots, which were launched in 2004 by health minister Rosie Winterton had strengthened the relationship between optometrists and ophthalmologists. However, very little else had happened, and 'major opportunities for health improvement have been missed' because implementation was left to local level.

His paper repeats the conclusion of the National Eye Care Steering Group - that optometrists are in an ideal position to take some of the workload from hospitals - and now, with the GOS review about to start, there is a chance to negotiate a new 'real GOS contract' that will make full use of the skills of practitioners.

Bosanquet's report, aimed at government decision-makers, states that eye diseases and conditions such glaucoma, low vision, diabetic retinopathy, AMD, and cataract require a stronger response from the NHS and social services.
He envisages a role for the profession in new, profitable practices.

'A new GOS contract could also encourage new types of enterprise,' he said, 'which would provide a wider range of services than under the current GOS and might involve new partnerships with ITCs (independent treatment centres).'

The revised contract was essential to promote innovation and expansion in world markets, said Bosanquet.
'This could be a major success area for the NHS reforms leading to quicker treatment without the need to build new "capacity".' He said it would be crucial to make use of the expertise of optometrists and opticians to provide incentives for new and enhanced skills.
'It could also be a key area for promoting innovation and increasing the UK role in world markets.'

At the launch he said it must have been 'deeply disappointing' to optics that the white paper only briefly mentioned opticians, but the profession was full of 'unsung heroes' working for the Health Service; he counted 21 pictures of spectacle wearers in the document's 38 photographs.

However, he warned that time was not on optometry's side for securing a new contract as the government's substantial funding arrangement of the NHS was due to be renewed in just two years' time.