Clause 35 - General ophthalmic services contracts
Health Bill
12:30 pm
Andrew Murrison (Shadow Minister, Health; Westbury, Conservative)
Can the Minister provide evidence that fraudulent dispensing opticians and optometrists are currently operating in this way? That might be helpful. Could she also confirm that there is little evidence of any such thing? If there were, I would tend to agree with her. If individuals were putting themselves up falsely, we would need to take steps to ensure that public money was not provided in such a fashion. Could she also confirm that it would be illegal for individuals to offer themselves as holding such professional qualifications? We do not need further legislation to ensure that public funds are safeguarded in such a way. I resent what she implied about Shipman in that regard; that is entirely a red herring. She should be ashamed for using it.