DOs have a role to play in screening children

Dispensing opticians should be allowed to carry out screening of children for visual problems to help alleviate the shocking lack of checks on young people in schools, delegates at last week's Vision Arena meeting in London heard.

Presenting a CET lecture, 'Through a child's eyes', Elaine Grisdale, the Association of British Dispensing Opticians' head of professional services and international development, quantified the lack of screening and the confusion surrounding the topic.

She said: 'Vision screening is supposed to happen at birth and at four years old but it doesn't.' While the responsibility for screening had been handed to the UK's 1,283 orthoptists, many of whom are part-time, with 663,000 four-year-olds it simply wasn't being carried out.