Moneo writes: A seat at the negotiating table

Since my last column, two items have caught my attention. The first, which appeared towards the end of August, was, in many ways, a welcome sight as I noted the intention of the Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee (OFNC) to survey optometrists in order to better inform the committee in its next round of so-called negotiations with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). This is, at first sight, a welcome development. However, reading on, I note that the purpose of the survey is ‘to help the committee accurately demonstrate the time needed to complete an NHS sight test.’ While this may seem laudable, I have serious concerns as to whether this will prove useful or not. I would be very interested to learn whether the NHS sight test referred to is the one we have all morphed to over the years, where we have relentlessly added more and more content that the DHSC has seen fit not to recognise, and therefore not pay for or whether it refers to the eye test as laid down in statute and has changed very little from its beginnings in the 1950s.