Awards 2017: Winning the coveted prize

For 2017 Optometrist of the Year Alisdair Buchanan, being an optometrist is more than testing a patient’s eyes, there must be the ability to make a connection with them.

Listening to Buchanan talk about his patients, it is clear that this connection is there.

Hours before Optician sat down with Buchanan at his Kent practice, he had appeared on county radio to talk about the importance of drivers maintaining good eye health and the potential dangers for those who do not.

One of those who falls into the second camp is a patient who has been causing Buchanan concern for some time. While explaining to Optician that the practice had clearly set out to the patient that their vision fell below the minimum standard for driving, Buchanan had still wrestled with the decision to progress the matter with the AOP, as a long-standing patient could lose their independence. However, Buchanan is quick to point out that concern is always tempered with the thought of the danger the patient could pose to the public or even themselves.