Mike Hale: Questions in the House

Optics made an all too rare appearance in the Westminster discourse this week. An early day motion parliamentary debate, tabled by Battersea MP Marsha de Cordova, considered a national eye health strategy for England (7 Days, page 5), currently the only country in the UK without one. As part of her speech, De Cordova explained the ‘current crisis in eye health’ and broadly outlined a strategy that would include measures for improving eye health outcomes while reducing waiting times.

To be clear, while the bill did pass to a second reading, pencilled in for early March, the chances of legislation introduced to the House of Commons in this manner becoming law are generally pretty slim, to say the least. Governments usually oppose private member bills at the second reading stage or bills simply do not get sufficient parliamentary time to complete. That said, it was positive to see the major problems, which we in optics are so aware of, be acknowledged on the national stage.