Cardiff University's Special Assessment Clinic picked up an award for Clinical Excellence at the National Autistic Society's (NAS) Autism Professionals Awards. The clinic was recognised for its specialist eye care services for people with autism and other forms of learning disabilities. Letter charts had been replaced with adapted tests based on an individual's ability to perform a given task, while the clinic had been designed to be a non-threatening environment with open spaces and cubicles for privacy, it was noted.
A first conference will be hosted by the European Sunglass Association (ESA) and The Vision Council following their merger deal (News 12.10.12). The annual ESA meeting, on May 23-24 at the Marriott Praia D'el Rey in Portugal, will be co-sponsored by The Vision Council, including sessions on market statistics, regulatory issues and design. 'It is the best place to get an accurate pulse on the vision industry and to network with those hard-to-meet executives in a relaxed setting,' said Martijn van Eerde, ESA board member.
Sales of contact lenses in France have decreased by 2 per cent as patients took a more cautious approach to spending. According to research by Companies and Markets, the French market value had fallen to €343m, with daily disposables accounting for 24 per cent of total value sales in 2012 and seeing the smallest decline in both volume and value. The group also forecast that value sales of contact lenses would show a compound annual growth rate of 0.6 per cent over the next five years in France.
Independents Day organiser PTR has appealed for participants in a mystery shopping research project. Unattributed results would be shared at the event on July 7 and 8 at The National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham. 'Participating practices will be supplied their own data in confidence, to compare with the overall sample results,' PTR co-director Nick Atkins said. Contact nick.atkins@proventrackrecord.co.uk