The times they are a-changing

The optical profession is highly regulated and as professionals within the healthcare sector, opticians work to a strict set of guidelines and best practice standards. The debate about the optician as a healthcare professional or a retailer can give rise to strong and divisive opinions. Which side would you take?

The General Optical Council, as one of the UK’s 12 Health and Social Care Regulators, is firmly in the first camp. Its website obviously focuses on this aspect with little consideration for the retail sector beyond conceding defeat in the regulation of online contact lens sales. However, in the real world, the industry needs to be looking at other retail models and modern marketing practices.