Simon Jones: What next for GOS?

In light of the recent disappointing news of a 39p lift in the NHS sight test fees, this week’s op-ed could quite feasibly have been distilled into four words – ‘I told you so.’ But the sector needs to pick itself up and think about where it goes next and who it sends in to negotiate on its behalf.

Despite recent dalliances with Westminster movers and shakers, optometry has again been hit in the face with the proverbial custard pie. Maybe it’s due due to those fleeting positive exchanges with the government and opposition in the past couple of years that make this latest imposed uplift on GOS sight test fees and grants an even harder pill to swallow.