Simon Jones: Cliff edge

I write this on June 30 as Optician goes to press. It’s a significant day for optical practices in England, not least because we have just seen an area around Leicester city centre placed in an extended period of lockdown measures following a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases. But it’s also the day that NHS England intends to cut off the monthly Covid-19 funding that has allowed practices to deliver essential and urgent care during lockdown, taking pressure off GPs, A&E and hospital ophthalmology departments.

In a letter to Matt Hancock MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and Jo Churchill MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State DHSC, the Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee described this day as a ‘cliff edge’.