The NOC was a real eye opener for anyone interested in extended care schemes. It became very clear from the non-optical speakers at the conference that the world of NHS decision making is going to change radically following the enactment of the Health Bill. The audience was very much the converted and the work LOC activists are carrying out is truly impressive. It also became clear that this is where the future push would have to come from. Throwing money at primary care was no longer an option said the Department of Health's speaker. Optoimetrists, through their LOCs will have to become embedded in their local health communities.
One wag suggested to me ( later at night once the wine had flowed) that if all the subs and levies taken from optometry were ploughed back into patient care there would be no funding crisis. It would be interesting to see just how much money is sucked out of optometry through fees and levies and exactly what benefits are provided to the profession in return. There were certianly plenty of health service and optical apparatchiks in evidence and they all have to be paid for.
If the future relies on optometrists doing it for themselves will they want to carry on paying for an expensive bureaucracy?