Practitioners and students around the country have continued to have their say on the creation of a new optometry course at the University of Hertfordshire (News 17.01.14).
Many, concerned that the new course will lead to an oversupply of optometrists and a subsequent drop in salaries, have voiced their opinions while signing an online petition set up by anonymous group, Stop Hertfordshire (News 31.01.14).
The petition called on the government and the GOC to stop the creation of the course and put in place a cap on optometry courses available. As Optician went to press, it had attracted over 2,000 signatures.
Student optometrist Aneela Azhar from Bradford felt that the new course would create an over-supply of optometrists while the profession faced dwindling numbers of vacancies for locum and permanent roles.
‘We face the danger of putting patients at risk if plans to create a new optometry course are accepted. As one of many who are investing time, money and immense effort in order to contribute towards the healthcare sector and provide the best optometric care, it is simply unfair to be left with the prospect of entering a hyper-saturated market and possibly unemployment,’ said Azhar while signing the petition.
Responding to the developments optometrist Nick Rumney explored a different side of the debate and focused on the lack of innovation in the optometry education sector. ‘With the exception of the Manchester MOptom registerable degree, there is nothing innovative out there,’ he said.
‘Optometry in the UK has some of the widest scope of practice anywhere in the world – at one end, preparing to inject anti-VEGf and at the other, refracting at the retail coalface. Not a single institution has sought to follow the international model of bringing in therapeutic qualification into the undergraduate syllabus,’ added Rumney. He said that should the course incorporate significant disease and therapeutic experience, it would have his backing, but he didn’t feel this would be the case.
The University of Hertfordshire declined to answer the questions posed by Optician.
By Simon Jones.