§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) whether his Department has been monitoring the costs charged by optometrists for a private eye test; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will conduct any further surveys into the numbers of people having their eyes tested.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe Department collects information on NHS sight tests only. Other sight tests are private transactions and, as such are inappropriate for Government information gathering. Surveys conducted by the optical profession indicate that the total number of sight tests has returned to 1987 levels, the last typical year before changes in the sight testing arrangements were announced.