This week’s Echoes of the past retrospective looks back to 1964 and the July 24 edition of Optician. Around the time the issue went to press, former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill retired from the House of Commons at the age of 89 and Judith Graham Pool published her discovery of cryoprecipitate, a frozen blood clotting product made from plasma in the treatment of haemophilia
Drivers’ vision was very much in the optical news at the time, with three particularly worrying reports.
The results of a practitioner-led screening study on motorcyclists at a side-car club meeting found that 10 out of 14 volunteers had to be referred for an ophthalmic examination. Two struggled to pass a number-plate test with both eyes and one was found to be monocular.
Another screening initiative organised by the Institute of Advanced Motorists found that 64 out of 277 motorists screened while competing in a driving contest failed to achieve a satisfactory standard of vision.
The case of an 82-year-old man summonsed to court because his eyesight did match the requirements of the Road Traffic act was widely reported in the national press. According to reports, when the motorist was asked to read the number-plate of a taxi some 50ft away, he could not even identity the taxi.
Elsewhere in the journal that week, details of how the disruption in the postal services was affecting practices were outlined and a management feature highlighted the importance of good receptionists.