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It seems that the year ended on a high with many benchmarks consistently higher than the equivalent months in the last quarter of 2005. The contributors tend to agree with 35 per cent feeling that, in general, 2006 was a better year for them than 2005. Only 15 per cent felt it was worse. The Scottish practices, in particular, remarked how the Scottish contract has benefited their business, especially from the point of view of customer service. They expected the increase in NHS fees in April would also help. Overall, 45 per cent of the sample felt very optimistic about the coming months, and the remainder reported some optimism.
In November and December eye examinations held up well compared to the same period in 2005. November exceeded the previous year by 6 per cent and December by 5 per cent. Throughout the year, however, results lagged behind until September, when figures became more positive compared to 2005 and a slight upturn was observed in the moving average.
NHS down
The proportion of NHS eye examinations was down slightly to 67 per cent, although not surprisingly was up by an overall 3 per cent on the year. Anti-reflective coatings exceeded last year's figures in all months except January, giving the average growth over the year of 11 per cent.
The dispensing rate for December was 66 per cent, down only slightly on the average rate for the year, which was 67 per cent - the same as 2005. Dispensing rate is calculated from total number of eye examinations and total dispensing, and hence does not take into account multiple dispensing.
The spring months and, again, November and December, were the best months for new contact lens fits, although poor results in other months meant that overall growth was negligible. A boost in the last weeks of the year meant that new fits in December were up 27 per cent on November's figures, and this also exceeded last December's figures by 23 per cent.
Over-the-counter solution sales rose slightly in November, and by a notable 10 per cent in December. The result was that the sales were up 6 per cent on December 2005. However, they declined over the year by just 2 per cent, with only the last minute rise helping to strengthen the annual results.
Total practice turnover was doing well all year, with only the January result failing to match or improve on the previous year's figure. Two particularly strong months were February and April. Results in November exceeded November 2005 by 18 per cent, and were up 14 per cent on October's figure. In December, despite a fall of 15 per cent from November's high, the indexed results still show a clear margin 11 per cent margin over December 2005 turnover. The result overall was an increase over the year of almost 7 per cent on average.
Average spend up
Average spend per eye examination has increased in December. In November it was £139.01, and in December it was £144.80. Again, good results at the end of the year means a satisfactory growth of over 2 per cent can be reported, although not so good as last year when growth was 4 per cent, and in 2004 when it was 11 per cent.
When comparing your practice with the results it is important to note that all our figures are equated to a 25-day month, so year-on-year, month-on-month, we can compare equal time periods.
Please note all figures shown are adjusted to a 25-day month. December had 24 working days (excluding Sundays and UK bank holidays).
New contributors are always welcome. The benefits of participation include customised graphs and comparisons, and contributors are able to make ad hoc enquiries, receiving feedback and results entirely free of charge. There is also the opportunity to benchmark other aspects of practice management or sales against the whole sample. The service is completely confidential.
If a practice would like to contribute to the Index please contact Louise Jarvis on 01622 851726, to discuss the benefits, no obligation, or by email to l.jarvis@businessbenchmarks.co.uk