Parliament and successive governments have been no friend to optometry.
But last week within the hallowed rooms of Westminster optometry was pushed well and truly to the fore.
College of Optometrist officers David Cartwright and Lynn Hansford were those bearing the standard for the profession and what a job they did.
It is a crying shame that House of Commons Committees don't command the kind of coverage enjoyed by Prime Minister's questions time or MPs in the Big Brother household. It was in front of just such a committee, on NHS charges, that our dynamic duo made some very salient points.
As the dentists' rep squirmed in the face of accusations that dentists were blackmailing their patients into going private, some simple home truths about the efficacy of high street optometry were hammered home.
The wider role for optometrists in providing primary care locally, eye screening for children, domiciliary services and the long-term savings of reduced blindness from early detection of glaucoma and diabetes and the potential for reducing falls were all on the agenda.
Sadly we were reminded that politics is more a science of semantics than sense.
The pivotal comment came from Cartwright who told the committee that while optometry costs the NHS 350m, the cost of dentistry is closer to 2bn, 'you can replace teeth but not your eyes,' he told the committee.
In contrast, when the dentists' rep was asked by a committee member: 'I am no expert, but it feels as though if dentistry does not treat you early then you just end up having your teeth out. Do you see what I mean?'
The dentist replied: 'I do not, sorry.'
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