§ Mr. Galleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many qualified opticians have been in practice during each of the last five years; how many have retired; and how many new opticians have been trained.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe do not have information in the form requested. The table gives the total number of opticians registered with the General Optical Council and the number of newly qualified registrants. The number who are practising is not known but the table shows the number who have undertaken to provide services under the NHS General Opthalmic Service (GOS).
588W
(England figures) At 31 December 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 Number on the General Optical Council Register Ophthalmic Opticians 4,925 5,013 5,033 5,086 5,165 Dispensing Opticians 2,121 2,322 2,487 2,594 2,674
At 31 December 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 Newly qualified registrants (United Kingdom figure) Ophthalmic Opticians 238 274 245 265 271 Dispensing Opticians 220 250 276 224 192 Numbers in the General Opthalmic Service Ophthalmic Opticians 4,617 4,715 4,738 4,797 4,871 Dispensing Opticians 1,919 2,084 2,204 2,306 2,392
§ Mr. Galleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many trained opticians are women; and how many of these are practising.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeAt 31 December 1983 the General Optical Council's register listed 1,223 women as ophthalmic opticians and 826 as dispensing opticians in England. We do not have precise information about the number of women who are practising but 25 per cent. of opticians in the General Ophthalmic Service are women.
§ Mr. Galleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has as to arrangements for refresher training for opticians.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe British College of Ophthalmic Opticians has recently taken over responsibility from the joint academic board for supervising refresher training courses for opticians. Our Department liaises with the college and provides financial support for courses relevant to the needs of opticians who provide services under the General Ophthalmic Service. In 1983–84 we sponsored 17 such courses.