Professional approach to charging for eye care

I am replying to Sandip Doshi’s letter ‘Where do we stand on free eye exams?'.

It is a commercial decision for each practice how they charge for their professional services. However, our guidance for professional practice states that you must be honest in your financial and commercial dealings with patients, colleagues, employers, insurers and other organisations (D23), and that you must explain to patients the costs of the professional services and products you are offering before they commit to payment (C18). In addition, the Opticians Act (s 26(4)) states that a person shall not be required as a condition of having his sight tested…to undertake to purchase from a specified person any optical appliance…and it is up to the optometrist to ensure that they comply with the law and the relevant guidelines.