Look local: Inverness’s monster catchment

Limitations of the eye care profession’s reach in some of the UK’s most rural areas are reflected by the workloads of practitioners in cities such as Inverness.

Bob Young (pictured below), manager at Tesco Opticians, based in the residential Inshes area, says: ‘Inverness is a vibrant, ever-expanding city with a growing population. The profession here is different to other cities in Scotland due to the size of the catchment area. Being the capital of the Highlands and Islands, we have patients who combine eye tests with a shopping trip to Inverness from as far afield as John O’Groats 120 miles away.