One in five likely to leave the profession

Nearly one in five optometrists and dispensing opticians say they are likely to leave the profession over the next five years according to the findings of a new survey conducted by Optician and CIBA Vision.

With more than four in 10 respondents saying they expect to reduce their work hours, the findings suggest that more attention may need to be paid to retaining eye care practitioners in the workforce as well as attracting new recruits.

These figures fall slightly for practitioners aged 55 years or under, suggesting that nearing retirement may be partly responsible, but are still higher than might be expected.