Less talk, more action says College president

A new strategy for eye health in England must make better use of the skills optometrists have to ease pressure on eye hospitals filled to capacity, according to College of Optometrists president David Parkins.

Speaking at a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Eye Health and Visual Impairment (APPG) in Westminster this week, Parkins told MPs that optometrists were capable of far more than just conducting eye exams.

‘They are able to deliver many of the solutions to the problems being identified now. They don’t need additional qualifications, they just need to be enabled by being contracted in a smarter way,’ he said.