HL Deb 22 December 1988 vol 502 cc1458-60

11.21 a.m.

Lord Rugby asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the composition of the General Optical Council will reflect the rights and needs of the consumer, following the deregulation of the supply of reading spectacles by the Health and Medicines Act 1988.

Lord Hesketh

My Lords, the deregulation of reading glasses has no implications for the composition of the General Optical Council. The council continues to be responsible for the promoting of the high standards of professional education and conduct among opticians in the interests of the public.

Lord Rugby

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that Answer. But of course the deregulation of reading glasses has in fact been effectively blocked for 30 years by the General Optical Council. Consequently, can the public have any confidence that the council's future decisions in relation to the new technology which is becoming available—some of it very good technology—do not block that new technology in order to protect the commercial interests of its members?

Lord Hesketh

My Lords, the General Optical Council does in fact include six lay appointees of the Privy Council to ensure that consumer opinion as well as optical medical opinions are available to the council.

If I understand the noble Lord, Lord Rugby, correctly, he is referring to autorefractors as part of the new technology. I am given to understand that an autorefractor cannot perform the health check on the eye, but there is no bar to the use of such equipment by an opticianal medical practitioner in the course of a sight test.

Baroness Gardner of Parkes

My Lords, can my noble friend tell us whether there are elected members of the General Optical Council in the same way as there are for the General Dental Council following the new dental legislation?

Lord Hesketh

My Lords, I fear that I shall have to write to the noble Baroness on that point because I do not have the answer.

Lord Peston

My Lords, again, ever helpful, 1 can say that there are certainly elected members of the General Optical Council; indeed, the majority of them are elected. The Minister's reply, following the spirit of the question, seemed to follow the spirit of what the Government have been doing and was not as pro-consumer as one would have liked. Surely what is required in this area is precisely what the noble Lord said; namely, a much greater consumer representation among the Privy Council nominees.

Will the noble Lord convey to his right honourable friend—who no doubt is the person who nominates the Privy Council nominees—that it would be a good idea if the majority of those nominees reflected consumer interests, rather than all kinds of quasi-producer interests?

Lord Hesketh

My Lords, I shall certainly pass on the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Peston. However, judging by the way in which he just spoke, one would slightly feel that no deregulation was about to take place. I think that I ought to remind your Lordships' House that deregulation is about to take place.

Lord Peston

My Lords, perhaps I may just clarify the matter. The reason I asked the question is that some of us strongly approve of deregulation but we would like to see it reinforced rather than interfered with by the professionals, which 1 am afraid does occur occasionally.

Viscount Montgomery of Alamein

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that the autorefractors, to which he referred in his earlier statement, are in fact extremely accurate and can he easily used following simple training? Therefore that should preclude the necessity in due course for every reading glass prescription to he signed by a qualified optician. However. that will require a slight modification of the present law. Will the noble Lord be prepared to consider that?

Lord Hesketh

My Lords, my technical ability is somewhat limited with regard to autorefractors. However. I shall draw the noble Viscount's comments to the attention of my right honourable friend.

Baroness Gardner of Parkes

My Lords, can the Minister tell us whether his department is doing anything to ensure that those on the National Consumer Council have among their number people with an interest and knowledge in health matters?

Lord Hesketh

My Lords. I am afraid that I shall have to draw that matter to the attention of my right honourable friend.