Worrying attitude to GOS claims

I may have missed part of the conversation having not remembered Moneo’s recent columns and as such was interested by Chris Hunt’s reply. As a practice owner I have read and heard about the NHS England attitude which seems to be gaining ground and this seems very worrying and I would ask the Optical Confederation for clarification of their actions to counter this.

I have heard that NHS England have been taking a ‘letter of the contract’ approach to GOS claims rather than the ‘spirit of the contract’ which has prevailed for the last 30+ years. As dispensing opticians we have been told by Peter Black that we need to be careful that we make correct claims and I agree that we should never commit fraud. My understanding was always that the Opticians Act was so ambiguous that more and more could be expected of us because we now have better technology and that the guidelines of the College of Optometrists are taken as a benchmark. Thanks, College.