6 minute read
An independent view
from Vision Now 2021
by Vision Now
20 British Contact Lens Association
The Contact Lens Evidence-based Academic Reports (CLEAR) will be published in next month’s issue of Contact Lens & Anterior Eye – the journal of the British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) – and will feature 10 overview papers compiled by a panel of internationally renowned experts. BCLA members will receive a copy of the report as part of their member benefits. Non-members can either join the BCLA ahead of the report publication or subscribe to CLAE via the Elsevier site.
CLEAR executive chair, Professor James Wolffsohn, said: “Putting together these reports has been an amazing journey of discovery, bringing together gems of evidence to inform clinical practice, identifying areas where further research is needed, and determining where there are opportunities for new innovations from industry. The collaboration between experts in the field of contact lenses and the anterior eye has been inspiring and productive, despite the enforced ‘virtual’ nature of the interactions.”
Professor James Wolffsohn
21 General Optical Council
The General Optical Council (GOC) has launched a consultation on new draft Speaking Up guidance for registrants, to support registrants to speak up about concerns they have – particularly those affecting patient and public safety. The consultation, which seeks feedback on the clarity and impacts of the guidance, was developed following learnings from recent healthcare inquiries into issues where staff’s concerns were not appropriately actioned, such as the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry.
Marcus Dye, GOC acting director of strategy, said: “Within our standards, registrants have a duty to speak up about concerns they have when patients and the public might be at risk. We know this can be a difficult thing for individuals to do, and even more so if businesses are unaware of their responsibility to make the process simple and to act on concerns raised.
“We’ve split the guidance into two parts, one for individuals and one for businesses, to be as clear as possible on our expectations. Whether you’re an individual or a business, we encourage all registrants to read both parts. As always, we expect registrants to use their professional judgement when applying the guidance, however, we hope that this new guidance will give them the confidence to speak up when they need to in order to protect the public.” Respond to the consultation via the GOC Consultation Hub by 10 March.
AN INDEPENDENT VIEW
Between a rock and a hard place
The current lockdown has thrown up yet more controversy and angst in the optical profession. At the core, is a divergence of view over whether practices should be providing essential clinical eyecare services only, or should also be able to offer more routine refraction and dispensing of eyewear. The majority (but not all) of AIO members favour the former, whilst unsurprisingly the multiples strongly favour the latter. The problem is that the behind the current Covid-19 dictated environment, and what seems an apparently stark and simple choice, there is a rather more complex dynamic. Why complex? Well optical bodies through the Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee (OFNC) have all grasped the nettle during the Covid-19 pandemic to get the message across to government and NHS England (Scotland and Wales are already more enlightened) that optometrists provide an essential clinical service that is currently underutilised by an NHS service that is facing (and will continue to face for quite some time) huge pressures. This message was core to the AIO Post-Covid Manifesto released last year, and there is some evidence that it is starting to get across. One element of this messaging is to avoid the use of the word ‘routine’ in exchanges with the government and NHS, and to fundamentally gain an understanding that the current GOS regime needs reform. That the whole profession is on a journey that will become increasingly clinical in its focus is indisputable. Volume optical outlets on the High Street, which rely on conversion rates and selling ‘cheap’ specs, are under increasing pressure from online suppliers. Indeed, a number of them are now online suppliers themselves. So, bringing this back to the current lockdown, what is the answer? Whilst the AIO, on behalf of the majority of its members, might advocate clear guidance from the government/NHS that optical practices should only be providing essential eyecare services in the current lockdown, it is a voice on its own. As a result, practices must make their own choice in terms of the level of service they will provide in the current environment. In a recent meeting of the optical bodies, there was acceptance that practitioners who decide to close their doors to all but essential (even emergency) services have absolutely the right to do so, and should be respected for doing so. When we come out of the Covid-19 pandemic, we can only hope and pray that the-long term outcome for optometry is positive, and that the opportunity to move the profession forward has not been wasted.
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