Delay in GOS fees announcement

The merger of NHS England with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has “undoubtedly delayed” a response to the Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee’s (OFNC) call for evidence about the need for an increase in GOS fees for 2025/26, says the OFNC.

The OFNC stated: “GOS contractors will have been expecting an announcement about GOS fees and grants in 2025/26 with the start of new financial year only 13 days away. OFNC has been pressing the NHS England team for some time, however, due to staffing issues at NHS England a response had not been received. The recent news that NHS England will be merged into DHSC has undoubtedly further delayed NHS England’s reply.”

The OFNC submitted evidence about the need for fee increases to the healthcare budget process in 2024 and once again provided additional input into the second phase of the government spending review.

In early February, the OFNC wrote to senior officials at NHS England “making clear the pressures that the eyecare sector was facing, and how there was a growing feeling of anger amongst GOS contractors about the previous imposition of unfair and unacceptable fee increases”.

In the letter to officials, OFNC said it made clear the need for a meeting at a senior level to agree a constructive way forward for fee restoration and to deliver the government’s objectives for the NHS in 2025/26.

“Despite repeatedly pressing, a letter of response was only received on 19 March,” the OFNC stated. “This letter acknowledges that the OFNC has ‘historically undertaken a comprehensive exercise to present evidence to NHS England and DHSC’ – but then goes on to say that the NHS is going to set out a new way of handling fees and grants by working within budget that has been predetermined by NHS England.

“The letter further set out that there would be a period of ‘engagement’ from the 26 March, and any fee increase would be backdated to 1 April. Early indications are that the NHS plans to only uplift the GOS budget in line with current inflation estimates.”

Paul Carroll, OFNC chair, commented: “NHS England has finally acknowledged that the OFNC has always submitted comprehensive evidence as part of annual fee negotiations, which confirms it is fully aware that contractors are not funded fairly to deliver a GOS sight test.

“The NHS in England is now proposing it will now more openly turn its back on settlements based on evidence and instead force primary eyecare providers to offer NHS eyecare at well below costs.

“We will be making clear that we cannot help NHS England impose unfair cuts on the profession, contractors deserve fair remuneration for the clinical care they deliver.”

The OFNC is reminding contractors that NHS optical vouchers are determined via a separate process.