An independent view

Austrian musician, Barbara Helfgott, performs at the Vienna fair Opticians and visitors from Vienna and surrounding regions gathered in this elegant, designated UNESCO World Heritage Site recently for the Austrian Ophthalmic Optics and Hearing Aid Convention – OHI Update. The annual event included an exposition of frames, lenses and machinery from a variety of suppliers, in addition to engaging and informative lectures by accomplished members of the optical profession.

This year, OHI also hosted a French Corner with participants including: Struktur Eyewear of Normandy; Krom Eyewear from the Alsace region; Clipoptic, Sofra Optique from the Haute-Savoie; and Business France. In the general exhibition, participants included familiar names such as Silhouette, Look Made in Italia, Zeiss, Hoya and Essilor amongst other distinguished vendors.

Camaraderie was further complimented with an energised ambiance, and beautiful music provided by the highly acclaimed Viennese violinist and singer, Barbara Helfgott, well known and admired in international music circles.

Struktur president, Jean-François Lufeaux, observed: “OHI was a unique opportunity to discover the Austrian market. The excellent organisation allowed us to contact opticians curious to discover new products. The French Corner space was perfectly supervised by Team Business France, making it possible to highlight French knowhow.”

Harald Belyes, OHI communication director, noted: “With over 240 conference participants, OHI Update 2021 offered a clear sign of life for the Austrian optical industry after the break of the last one and a half years caused by Covid-19. In addition to six top-class lectures on ophthalmic optics and hearing acoustics, an accompanying industry trade fair with 42 exhibitors, and a dedicated French Corner, growth increased about 20 per cent compared to 2019.

“Visitors also placed orders and arranged sales appointments with the industry. This makes the OHI Update in Vienna an important sales venue about which the industry positively expressed itself throughout,” added Harald.

The next OHI event takes place at SO/Sofitel, Vienna on 10 September 2022. Visit www.ohi.at/ohi-update-2021

Perhaps naively, the AIO council had rather assumed that apprenticeships for optometry had been kicked into the long grass for good. Not so it seems. Out of the blue, an email arrives from the ‘Group of Employers’ (for which read multiples) saying that they have submitted an application to the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE).

It appears that no notice of the intention to submit the application was given to any party outside of the Trailblazer Group – even the Association of Optometrists and the College of Optometrists were apparently blindsided by the application. Clearly, the Trailblazer Group is intent on ramming apprenticeships through regardless of overwhelming opposition within the optometric profession. Indeed, opposition to apprenticeships was why the Ophthalmic Practitioners Group (OPG) was created in 2019.

On the basis that IfATE will approve the application (why wouldn’t they; they are incentivised to create new apprenticeships?) it will befall the General Optical Council (GOC) to provide end point assessment (EPA) as a statutory regulator. As the new chief executive of the GOC has been promoted from the position of director of education, and led the Education Strategic Review, it looks like a ‘slam dunk’ that optometry apprenticeships will go live late in 2022.

This will, of course, suit the multiples down to the ground, whilst disadvantaging independents. It is understood that learning institutions were mainly opposed to the apprenticeship movement when first consulted, but there will be universities that will bend over backwards to source new business working with the multiples.

If there is a compelling need for apprenticeships in optometry, it has certainly not been demonstrated by the Trailblazer Group. There are those who believe apprenticeships will lower standards and thereby present risks not only to patients but to practitioners as well. Only time will tell how this plays out, but the underlying business models of multiple stores are yet again likely to be advantaged over the clinical service models of independent practices.