Chris Bennett: Turning words into action

What has been apparent for many years to those in optics is now becoming apparent to the National Health Service and politicians – high street optics has a role in secondary eye care.

Hallelujah, you may be thinking, unfortunately there is still a long way to go to turn realisation into change for the tax-paying patient.

There are now 7.6 million ophthalmic appointments in NHS England’s hospitals making it the second largest speciality by size. Add to this the 270,000 eye-related accident and emergency visits and you would be forgiven for assuming vision is a high priority for the policy makers in Parliament and the pen pushers running the NHS.