“WE SEE PATIENT SATISFACTION EVERY DAY”

Every edition, OT poses a series of questions to a hospital optometrist. This time: SpaMedica’s regional optometrist lead for South and West Yorkshire, Sadiya Mulla

Could you describe working as a hospital optometrist in one sentence?

Rewarding, challenging, interesting and amazing – often all at the same time.

How long have you worked as a hospital optometrist?

Four years. Sometimes it feels longer than that, because of the opportunities and depth of experience I’ve had in a short space of time.

Why did you decide to become a hospital optometrist?

I’d considered being a hospital optometrist while I was studying at the University of Bradford. Later, whilst working as a resident optometrist in a community practice, I dealt with a patient who had a significant abnormality pressing on her spine, which affected the signalling of the optic nerve. I saw how important the role of the optometrist was in triaging our clinical findings. This life-saving situation was the point where I knew I wanted to become a hospital optometrist.

What is the biggest challenge facing hospital optometry currently?

In an ageing population, we’re seeing increasing numbers of patients with conditions such as glaucoma and macular degeneration, who need ongoing monitoring and treatment. We need to continue upskilling, ensuring that greater numbers of hospital and community optometrists can provide care in these areas –giving patients the right care at the right time.

What is your biggest success in the past three years?

Being promoted from hospital optometrist to regional optometrist lead. Not only am I looking after a fabulous team, I’m also involved with some interesting projects, such as our first glaucoma monitoring service at SpaMedica, which recently launched in Yorkshire.

What is the most surprising case you have seen in the hospital setting?

I had a patient with a limited fundal view, due to a dense cataract. He came back for a follow

NAME: Sadiya Mulla

ROLE: Regional optometrist lead at SpaMedica LOCATION: Wakefield up, with limited vision, post-surgery. He had a choroidal melanoma filling his macula region. Luckily, his eye was saved from enucleation.

What would you say to optometrists working on the High Street about working in a hospital? It is the most rewarding job. Regularly seeing the reaction of patients, when you have changed their eyesight for the better and given them their independence back, makes coming to work so much more worthwhile.

One valuable moment

As pandemic restrictions started to ease, it felt like we were making a big difference, helping patients access the care they needed and working to reduce waiting times. We only closed our eye hospitals for a short time, and then our teams worked tirelessly when returning to make sure patients continued to get the care they needed. We see patient satisfaction every day, and receive lots of positive feedback, which is a great part of this job. But that period sticks out for me. We were working exceptionally hard for our patients, when they were facing such stress and uncertainty.