AN INDEPENDENT VIEW

Building on our strengths

The start of a new year always brings the opportunity to both reflect on the previous year’s events and look forward to what may develop in the coming months.

Last year saw the dust continue to settle following the pandemic as businesses inched back to normality, albeit with some long-term changes. Both clinicians and patients are more acutely aware of infection control in all walks of life. Whilst optometry has always had a clear emphasis on this, our patients certainly have a much stronger expectation to see it in action.

There is also much greater awareness of mask wearing, so hopefully we can say goodbye to catching every cold and flu bug under the sun when patients arrive coughing and spluttering for their appointments. In all seriousness, this small change can potentially save a lot of lost clinic hours.

So what of the year ahead? We seem to have shifted from one global catastrophe to another, as we emerge from the pandemic into the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the repercussions of that. The cost of living crisis may well cause patients to stop and consider where their disposable income is spent, so may we see a shift towards more budget vision correction solutions and online retailers?

Patient education is key here and we should continue to promote and explain exactly why independent practice is so comprehensive and patient focused. We must also consider the impact on business overheads. Rising energy costs will be felt across the sector, and it is important to remember that help is always at hand through our own Practice Support Network.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Having seen how the independent sector weathered the storm of Covid, emerging stronger than ever, I feel the same can be said for the current situation. The absolute joy of being an independent practice is the ability to adjust and refine the business to respond to local demand. This is the strength that will continue to see the independent sector grow in the months and years ahead.