Last Friday, delegates at the Scottish Council of the Association of Optometrists conference were told by the SNP's spokesperson on health and community care, Kay Ullrich MSP, of the role of optometry in relation to primary care. This included what practitioners could offer, particularly detecting and preventing disease. 'It was obvious from listening in on the conference that this is the road that many optometrists would like to go down,' she said. Ms Ullrich told optician that optometry had been an 'under utilised resource', particularly in terms of prevention. 'I think optometrists should continue by forging strong links with health boards because practitioners are at the core of detecting disease in the community. 'A lot has to be done to push the image of optometry away from that of just being an optician. A public awareness campaign has to be run to show the kind of things optometrists can do, how much cheaper it would be for the health service and how much more accessible to people.' However, she stated categorically that there would be no change to the SNP's policy of free eye examinations for everyone: 'That remains a fully-costed pledge.' No one questioned her on this subject during her presentation. Ms Ullrich has arranged for a meeting with some representatives from the conference to see how to 'take it forward'. She said that optometry was at 'the core, the foundation of the health service.'