Moneo writes

Congratulations to Frank Munro and his team at Optometry Scotland for making the breakthrough in Scotland that his colleagues south of the border so earnestly yearn for. Optometrists in England should now make it very clear to the Department of Health that it is futile to continue with any more talks about developing optometry in England without appropriate funding for services.

Unless the DoH can give a clear monetary commitment to services in England during its road-shows for the Vision 20-20 strategy then it is clear that it hopes to continue to exploit the goodwill of the English profession. It is not that optometrists in England do not want to offer the services that their colleagues in Scotland do. It is that we simply cannot afford to. The Scottish Parliament has taken an adult approach to this matter and it is a crying shame that the government will not do the same for England.