This week’s Echoes of the Past from Manufacturing Optician in July 1965 takes a look at the resources needed to run an optical practice half a century ago.
Some of the instruments, such as a Bjerrum screen or amblyoscope, may no longer be needed, but most are still everyday requirements of modern day practice.
Indeed, ophthalmoscopes, retinoscopes, chairs and suitable lighting are essentials for the consulting room, while the arrival of more complex retinal imaging equipment such as OCTs makes starting up a new optical business even more daunting these days.
As for dispensing, traditional fitting stations, cabinets and mirrors have in some instances been replaced by sleeker approaches using tablets, but other practices still prefer to do it the old way.
The cost of kitting out a practice in 1965 was estimated at £950 with an annual expenditure of £100 on top of that. While this is difficult to translate into today’s money, the country’s overall annual layout for ophthalmic and dispensing establishments of £450,000 at the time would be more in keeping with a handful of OCT sales in the world we now live in.
In theory, one aspect of modern day practice that should reduce outlay, however, is paperless patient management systems. It means gone are the days of typewriters and cumbersome filing cabinets. Or does it? In practice, trends established in the 60s have plenty of staying power – just one look at the Filora Diamante by Wiseman frames on the front cover from July 1965 demonstrates that.