Bill Harvey: Share it fairly

The optics profession should be well used to the tug-of-war between the provision of free health care to all at the point of delivery and the development of services through commercial routes capable of producing a profit.

Indeed, since the formation of the National Health Service, there has existed an uneasy hybrid of private and public provision of eye care. One outcome of this has been the undervaluing of professional services and an over-reliance upon a mark-up on the sale of appliances such as spectacles and contact lenses.

I can think of no other time when news about the balance of public and private funding of essential services has been more prominent. This is both outside the health sector (farewell Carrillion) and within. This week, Stephen Hawking has lent his support to those concerned about proposals for local health provision from GP-led groups to be run as autonomous concerns.