§ 58. Dr. Marshallasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why some National Health charges for optical lenses are higher than the prices at which opticians are able to sell them privately
§ Mr. AlisonThe charges payable by patients are designed to cover the combined cost of the lenses and of the optician's dispensing fee. The element representing the cost of the lenses is arrived at by averaging the costs of lenses grouped according to their types and powers; and therefore this element will in some individual cases slightly exceed, and in others slightly fall short of, the actual cost.