Letters: 6 April

Ken Pullum makes an argument (Optician, March 30) that the voucherisation of NHS sight tests would be of benefit to some practices, although it is by no means clear that this would be of benefit to all practices.

He explains what he wants, but what he fails to do is to give any convincing reasons why the government should be interested or what they get out of it. At present, from the government's point of view, they get almost no complaints about optics. There is a wide choice of outlets and no waiting.

The reintroduction of variable and open-ended charges for sight tests offers lots of potential bad publicity and little benefit to a government that reinstated NHS sight tests for the elderly. To suggest that the current tactics are not working is to ignore the considerable progress in fees and scope of practice in Scotland and Wales. We also have high hopes for Northern Ireland, and the representative bodies will continue to keep up the pressure in England. It is important to keep a grip on reality and to negotiate within the realms of the possible.