Letter: Down under set right

I read with interest Nick Rumney’s review of Professor Barry Cole’s ‘History of Australian Optometry’and write to point out a number of factual errors.

With regards to the bulk billing comments, the statistics published by the Australian Department of Health (funder of Medicare) show clearly that over 98% of eye consultations prior to Specsavers arrival in Australia were bulk billed, with no out-of-pocket expenses charged to patients. The assertion that the public was accustomed to paying fees for optometric services is incorrect.

From a clinical perspective, it is important to note that Specsavers was first to introduce digital retinal photography on a mass-market basis, placing a camera in every practice for use with every patient as part of every standard eye examination from 2010.