Optometry Today

Why is it important to bring healthcare into the community? At the Labour party conference we asked this question to a few key people. Here, CEO Adam Sampson, and clinical and policy director, Peter Hampson at the Association of Optometrists, and the head of policy and education and campaigns, Sophie Dodgeon at the RNIB, share their thoughts.

What does menopause support look like? Ahead of #MenopauseAwarenessDay, we spoke to optometrist, Dr Valarie Jerome, and Specsavers senior events and communication manager and MenoTalk founder, Lou Furby, about menopause support in the workplace. Watch our full video with Valarie and Lou covering a wide range of topics all about menopause: https://ow.ly/mnyE50XctMf #Menopause #MenopauseAwarenessMonth

What is the importance of prevention in healthcare? At the Labour party conference we asked this question to key people working across healthcare. Watch and listen ⬇️ to hear what they had to say. If you'd like to read more about this topic, delve into our latest Prevention and policy edition of OT here: https://ow.ly/xwNC50XaqJ4 Thanks to Adam Sampson and Peter Hampson at the Association of Optometrists, Nishani Amerasinghe at Glaucoma UK, Giles Edmonds at Specsavers, Andrew Lennox at The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, Sophie Dodgeon at the RNIB, Daniel Francis MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford, and Stephen Timms, Minister of state for social security and disability of the UK, all of whom took the time to share their thoughts and insights into prevention.

What took place around the globe to mark World Sight Day 2025? The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) annual awareness day aims to raise awareness of the importance of eye health. A few of our highlights included: ⦿ This year the IAPB focused on highlighting real eye health stories, such as Denis, 23, a content creator from Mshomoroni, who nearly lost his sight while at university before receiving urgent surgery. ⦿ HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh, global ambassador for IAPB, presented England Lioness and Chelsea Football Club goalkeeper, Hannah Hampton with a ‘Love Your Eyes Special Recognition Award’ ⦿ The ECOO (European Council of Optometry and Optics) launched the Blue Book exploring Europe’s eye care workforce. ⦿ SeeAbility released a new film to tell the story of its campaign to roll-out eye care services in special schools. ⦿ Vision Action highlighted its programme in underserved communities of the Upper East Region of Ghana. ⦿ Vision Care for Homeless People has unveiled its new brand identity, Vision Care. Take a look and read more about the activities that took place to recognise the awareness day here: https://ow.ly/A61k50X9Xl8

Have you listened to our latest episode of The OT Podcast? In this episode we speak to University of Bradford academic, Lindsay Rountree, about her career, research and areas of interest in optics. Listen to this episode ➡️ https://ow.ly/mHm550X5t6V

Have you picked up your latest edition of OT, or browsed through the Our Journal section on our website? If not, get your week off to a good start and read our new Prevention and Policy edition. In this edition, we spoke to optometrists delivering eye care services at the heart of NHS transformation - from urgent eye care in Cornwall to a digital window into secondary care in Gloucestershire. Read the cover story here: https://ow.ly/Mpwr50X6V3k Special thanks to everyone we spoke to for our cover story and throughout the edition, including Ankur Trivedi, Josephine Evans, Julia Maiden, and Primary Eyecare Services.

What is Fuchs’ dystrophy? In a roundtable discussion, hosted in partnership with Kowa, we delved into the subject with four eye care professionals, Purvi Thomson head of optometry at OCL Vision, Dr Keyur Patel, optometrist and clinical director at Tompkins Knight & Son Optometrist, Minakshi Jain, optometrist and director at Dry Eye Centre in London, and Dr Mohammad Ahmad, consultant ophthalmologist. Curious to learn more about the condition? Watch and read the full roundtable here: https://ow.ly/Laj050X687z Keyur Patel // Minakshi Jain // Purvi Thomson

Why do consumers sue and how can you turn unhappy customers into loyal advocates? Paul Chapman-Hatchett, clinical consultant Optical Consumer Complaints Service, offers insight into the reasons why people sue and offers some communications skills to help you manage complaints effectively. This video is a part of our Practice team training modules designed for the whole practice team. Watch and learn more here: https://ow.ly/gMJs50WqIQp

Want to know where you can find all of OT's webinar recordings, video skills guides, and archived CPD? This is all readily available to you in our Education library. In this video our video production editor, Laurence Derbyshire, shares how you can get the most out of these educational resources. Access the Education library here: https://ow.ly/R1gL50X302o