Optical services in the UK: A study of a professional labour market

What is the optimum size of a profession and how should it be determined? If norms about working standards exist and if it can be assumed that its geographical distribution and organisation are optimal, then man-power planning can be reduced to an arithmetical exercise; and the ideal number of places offered on qualifying courses in Colleges and Universities will be determined by pass-rates. However, in most cases, the problems are more complex. A proper concern for professional freedom leads society to tolerate wide variations in professional behaviour and working practice. One aim of policy, whether developed by a Government department or by a professional association or both, may be to promote efficiency, but not at the expense of individual discretion. In such circumstances, working norms do not exist. If, in addition, there is little hard information about the extent of part-time working, actual working practices and so on, it is difficult at first to see how to decide the future size of the profession. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how a simulation exercise combined with a sensitivity analysis was able to contribute to the solution of this problem in the case of one profession, that of opticians. It is hoped that the approach can be adapted to deal with similar problems in other professions who sell their services directly to the public.