Moneo writes: Making up for lost time

At the time of writing most optometry practices in England will have reopened in some form or other. As things stand it is still not possible to carry out routine NHS sight testing but, following guidelines from the GOC, this is not the case for routine private eye examinations. In the latest statement from the GOC issued on June 12 it stated, ‘NHS eye care services are suspended for all but urgent, essential or emergency care, pending further announcements by the NHS in the four UK nations.’ However, as a result of other statements issued by government around businesses exempted from closure the GOC has now concluded: ‘In our view this means that registrants are able to deliver private eye care including private sight tests/eye examinations and aftercare appointments.’ This is good news and may see some profound attitude changes as to whether practices actually continue with NHS contracts when they see the amount of uptake of private eye examinations by those currently unable to access NHS sight tests. Those businesses running incentive schemes such as Eyeplan or Practice Plan are at a sound advantage currently.