§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether additional fees are paid to opticians who visit the homes of disabled or elderly persons in order to prescribe, or who visit community homes and other institutions to examine the needs of patients for optical assistance; if he is satisfied with the remuneration paid to opticians who travel from their dispensing rooms to assess the needs of patients for such optical assistance; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. VaughanNo additional fees are paid to those opticians who provide general ophthalmic services to patients in their own homes. Opticians receive standard sight-test or dispensing fees regardless of where the services are provided. I am satisfied that the system for determining opticians' remuneration provides for the extra costs of making domiciliary visits incurred by the profession as a whole to be reflected in their fees.
Disabled and elderly persons who are housebound can, at the request of their family doctor, obtain NHS ophthalmic services under the hospital eye service.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied with the record-keeping practices of opticians; what discussions he has had with opticians about the feasibility of keeping such records as a matter of good practice; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. VaughanOpticians are already obliged by the terms of service laid down for them under the National Health Service (General Opthalmic Services) Regulations 1974 to keep a proper record in respect of each patient to whom they provide services and to retain it for a period of seven years, during which time it can be inspected by an officer appointed by the family practitioner committee. Opticians are free to decide the method of record keeping 171W best suited to their own circumstances and there is no evidence to suggest that standards are generally falling short of those conducive to good optical practice.