Police crackdown on drivers with poor vision
There have been too many stories reported in the pages of Optician in recent years about people killed or seriously hurt by drivers with poor vision. A month-long trial run in September by police forces in Thames Valley, Hampshire and the West Midlands captured the attention of not just the profession, but the wider public too.
The trial, supported by the road safety charity Brake, required all motorists stopped by police officers to read a number plate from 20m. If they failed, drivers had their licences revoked on the spot. Data from the trial is being used to improve understanding of the extent of poor drivers’ vision.
The initiative was heavily supported on social media by practices around the country and represented a watershed moment in the approach taken with drivers who get behind the wheel with inadequate eyesight.
Calamitous Capita continues
Capita has been a thorn in the side of practices for over three years, but the relationship with the profession and NHS England reached new lows at the beginning of 2018. In January, the Optical Confederation said it no longer had confidence in the outsourcer and called for it to be stripped of its NHS contract. A June deadline was set for resolution of delayed payments. In May, the National Audit Office said it was ‘deeply unsatisfactory’ that NHS England and Capita had not reached required levels, two-and-a-half years into the contract. Over two months after the Optical Confederation’s performance ‘ultimatum’ Capita was under scrutiny from all quarters, with the Public Accounts Committee describing the service as ‘a shambles’. Not even an intervention from Chancellor Phillip Hammond in the spring statement could rally Capita into improvement.
Marks and Spencer enters retail optics
Optics in supermarkets and department stores has always been a fluid part of the sector. When Tesco Opticians was acquired by Vision Express in 2017, it was hard to see much of a future for opticians in those settings. Marks and Spencer, along with Galaxy Optical, did not share the same view and in May announced a five-location (with a sixth added later) trial of M&S Opticians.
Can M&S make its optician venture work?
The outlook for the collaboration looks rocky. M&S announced last month that 100 stores were to close to improve profitability, so any new ventures will be under intense scrutiny. Galaxy Optical has its own problems too, closing its Future Vision Opticians group of practices at short notice, leaving staff and patients with notes on windows for details of order fulfilment and refunds.
Turning the tide on CL disposal
Hard-hitting research emerged from Arizona State University in August on the impact irresponsible contact lens disposal was having on the environment. Between 15 and 20% of the 45m contact lens wearers in the US admitted to flushing lenses down the sink or toilet, producing an estimated 23 metric tons of waterborne waste annually.
The staggering figures prompted Optician to launch the Wear and Care sticker campaign, which will see stickers for contact lens packaging in practice that will encourage patients to dispose of contacts in solid, non-recyclable waste, which researchers say is the fastest way the problem can be tackled. It is by no means a permanent solution, but the dire situation calls for urgent action.
Essilor slapped with online sales ban
At the start of the year, much of the spotlight on Essilor was focused on the proposed merger with Luxottica. The company’s interest in online retail had its own moments under the microscope (Big Bad Wolf and Optician’s investigation into readily available children’s glasses) in previous years, but a successful injunction against Clearly, an Essilor portal, applied for by the Colleges of Optometrists and Opticians in Ontario, Canada struck a chord. The Colleges successfully argued that while the internet could be an effective tool for vision care, the dispensing of corrective lenses remained a controlled act subject to legislation and required a regulated health professional’s involvement.
Gender pay gap in optics
Optical businesses were part of more than 10,000 companies with 250 or more employees required to publish data on their potential gender pay differences following new directives from the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). The sector’s leading retailer in terms of staff and store numbers, Specsavers, posted the highest median gap at 41.9% between its male and female workers although figures provided only related to office and lab staff. The multiple also pointed towards more men in senior roles, skewing the figures somewhat. The picture was better at Boots and Vision Express, with 21% and 22% median difference respectively. Both Specsavers and Vision Express said they were running initiatives to improve diversity.
New style CET delayed until 2022
Just two months before introduction of a transitional one-year CET cycle, the General Optical announced in November that the all-new programme scheduled for launch in 2020, would be delayed until 2022 and another three-year cycle with current requirements would run in its place. The GOC said the introduction of a transitional year could mean increased risk to the public, as CET requirements and non-compliance could not be enforced. The regulator could open it up to challenge by judicial review, leading to potentially costly litigation and reputational damage. By putting the introduction on hold, any reputational damage has remained within the confines of the optical profession.
Johnson & Johnson launches Acuvue Oasys with Transitions
In development for over a decade, J&J’s photochromic contact lens developed alongside Transitions, finally received approval from the US FDA in April. A photochromic contact lens has long been one of those ‘what if?’ theoretical products, but with the announcement and subsequent release of the two-week reusable lens in the first half of 2019, the companies said the Acuvue Oasys with Transitions would revolutionise contact lenses. J&J was clear that the product was not designed to replace sunglasses, but was suitable for a range of everyday lighting situations where people compensate by squinting, shielding eyes or dimming lights. A UK specific date for release is still to be confirmed.
Judicial review approves ‘off label’ use of Avastin
In the pre-Brexit medicine regulation landscape, the High Court’s decision in September to allow 12 clinical commissioning groups in the north of England to use a compounded form of Roche’s cancer drug Avastin to treat wet AMD was met with disapproval from the pharmaceutical sector. The legal challenge, mounted by Bayer and Novartis, claimed the practise broke EU and UK laws. However, the judge, Mrs Justice Whipple DBE dismissed all the claims, which could now open the door for other NHS organisations to follow suit – saving the health service millions of pounds and denting the revenues of the ophthalmology drugs, which are among the biggest earners in the UK.
Acanthamoeba keratitis in the south east of England
University College London’s research into a threefold increase acanthamoeba keratitis cases in the south east of England since 2011 caught the attention of because of the regional slant. Could users in the south east have been indulging in a spot of contact lens wear in their swimming pools or hot tubs, or simply failing to wash their hands and not maintaining proper hygiene regimen? All were suggested by the researchers as possible reasons for the increase in the study published in September. Or could it have been something in the water? Very possibly, as hard water prevalent in the south east leads to the formation of limescale, which is the optimal breeding ground for the organism.
opticianonline.net: top 10 most read online news stories 2018
1 Marks and Spencer enters retail optics
2 Essilor hit with online ban
3 Optician Awards finalists announced
4 Jonathan Lawson to step down from Vision Express after seven years at the helm
5 New frame releases for LK Bennett
6 Locum DO suspended for processing own pay
7 Optometrist cleared after sex in practice
8 Michelle le Prevost leaves Black & Lizars
9 Optician Awards 2018: Black ties and glittering prizes
10 Japanese Seed buys Contact Lens Precision Laboratories