Letter: The cost of optical bodies

In conversation with various optometric and dispensing colleagues, it appears to me that there is quite a high level of disgruntlement among the profession regarding the effectiveness of those who purport to represent our interests.

This is regrettable given that, in the case of dispensing opticians, this amounts to £290 for full [ABDO] annual membership on top of an annual GOC fee of £320 for full membership.

In addition, lowly dispensing opticians are disadvantaged by not being able to offset their costs for undertaking CET in the way that our optometric colleagues can.

Readers may be interested to know that it is not a requirement of the General Optical Council to be registered with any of the professional examining bodies once GOC registration has been achieved.