These Regulations further amend the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) (Scotland) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/642) (“the principal Regulations”) which provide for payments to be made by means of a voucher system, in respect of costs incurred by certain categories of persons in connection with the supply, replacement or repair of optical appliances.

Regulation 2 amends the definition of “NHS sight test fee” in regulation 1 of the principal Regulations to reflect the increase in fees for National Health Service sight tests payable to ophthalmic medical practitioners and opticians. This fee is set at two levels depending on whether or not the sight test was carried out at the patient’s home and the appropriate figure is used to calculate the value of assistance towards the cost of a private sight test.