§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will take steps to ensure that opticians stock the full range of National Health Service frames.
§ Mr. FairgrieveDiscussions are in progress with the bodies representing opticians on the question of introducing a specific obligation to display the various types of NHS frames.
§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has received about the need to modernise the existing range of National Health Service spectacle frames.
§ Mr. FairgrieveNone; but I have noted and share the view of the Royal Commission on the NHS that
it would be difficult to show that the existing range of NHS frames was unsatisfactory so far as patients' vision was concerned; and fashions in spectacle frames may change. A larger range of frames is likely to mean greater cost and should not be given much priority.