a look at the trends

Of the independent practices in our sample, the average number of full-time optometrists employed is 1.3. These optometrists carry out an average of five eye examinations per day, the range being between two and nine per day. In August, practice turnover per optometrist was on average 18,000. Compared to this, August's turnover per member of full-time staff was almost 8,000.
The average practice in our independent sample last month carried out 179 sight tests. This equates to an average of 138 per optometrist. The size of practice in terms of staffing and activity varies a lot, which is the reason for publishing indices rather than averages on a month-by-month basis. The practice income per optometrist ranges from 5,000 to 30,000, and the number of sight tests per optom ranges from five to 231 in August.
The number of full-time staff varies from one to seven. There is some correlation between number of staff and turnover. It seems that fewer members of staff yield a higher turnover per person, that is generally between one and three employees, including clinical and non-clinical.