Sight-test fee offer rejected

In a statement released this week, the OFRC said it was taking 'an uncompromising line' in its response to the DoH, highlighting that elements of the consultation process had also been ignored. Earlier this year a claim was submitted by the OFRC asking for an increase of below &\#163;1.50 in the fee, which would have given a total of &\#163;15.99 (News, July 30). But since then the OFRC has admitted that the claim was not enough to cover the cost of NHS examinations, and has now drawn attention to evidence collected by DoH officials which, it claims, proves that practitioners' workload has increased as a result of the re-introduction of free examinations for the over-60s. OFRC chairman Ben Lewis said: 'It now transpires that our original claim for &\#163;15.99 underestimated the extra time taken by optometrists to carry out sight tests on older patients. 'We have the strongest possible case for the payment in full of our claim based on the department's own evidence. We are determined that this year the change in eligibility has to be reflected in the fee at an adequate and fair level.' The OFRC is also seeking the payment of a new second fee for referral refinements, which has been included in its claim. This fee is likely to cover the cost of procedures such as repeated fields and pressures, and cycloplegic examinations. The OFRC is preparing an early submission for April 2000.