Whilst the government has said that current cost efficiency plans should not affect clinical posts it is clear that a number of NHS providers are intending or have started to offer various funded severance schemes such as Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme (MARS) or Voluntary Redundancy Scheme (VR).

These schemes have pros and cons and some are better than others, we are asking all members not to accept an offer before discussing it with your local rep who should in turn bring it to a member of the executive as the issues can be very complex and the pitfalls are not always clear. As always, our aim is to preserve orthoptic jobs and support our members in fair processes.

Support from any executive member can be accessed by sending a request to the office at bios@orthoptics.org.uk.