Optometry Scotland is urging the Scottish government to rethink its budget plans and spend more on the country’s eye health.
The proposed health budget sees a rise in overall health spending by 7.1 per cent in cash terms, or 5.2 per cent after inflation. However, GOS sees a 0.8 per cent decrease after inflation is accounted for.
David Quigley, chair of Optometry Scotland, said: “It is concerning that despite a rise in health spending there is a decrease for GOS, meaning inflationary pressures are simply not being recognised.
“When challenged on this issue…cabinet secretary Jeane Freeman did not dispute that community optometrists would be expected to do more with less. In our view, this is simply unfair and unsustainable. For the optometry sector to maintain our level of service, there needs to be a greater level of equity within the overall health budget.”
Optometry Scotland is calling for a real term GOS budget increase of three per cent (1.1 per cent on last year, plus inflation at 1.9 per cent) which equates to £111.6m rather than the projected £109.5m.
It believes this increase would be “negligible and reasonable” as GOS accounts for just 0.7 per cent of total health spending. Furthermore, it is the only community health service provider to receive a real terms decrease.
Commenting on the health budget proposals, Clive Marchant, ABDO president, said: “This is disappointing because Scotland leads the way in the delivery of vital eye health care services in the UK, following the Scottish government’s commitment to prioritise eye health by changing the offering within GOS in 2006. This not only increased the care delivered to patients universally, it enabled a massive shift in the balance of care, from secondary to primary, with an opportunity to do more. This will only be hindered by this recent decision.”
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