In focus: Market forces to transform role of eye care professionals

Dispensing opticians and optometrists are voicing frustration at GOC competency regulations that obstruct their need to adapt as the profession considers how best to manage the Frankenstein of emerging technology in optics.

A panel of leaders congregated at last week’s Eye to Eye discussion arranged by the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers. Representatives from ophthalmology, dispensing and optometry were invited to engage with the WCSM’s provocative question: ‘Will we need optometrists in 2020?’

Held at AOP headquarters in London, panellists discussed how technology, notably portable refraction testing equipment and OCT scanning, will change the role of optometric staff in practice.