Profession urged to support IP ambitions

More encouragement and help needs to be given by the profession to optometrists wishing to achieve independent prescriber status, delegates at this week's BCLA conference heard.

Speaking at the conference's Thursday session on therapeutics, Nick Rumney, managing director of BBR Optometry and therapeutic optometrist, said Optician's recent workplace survey (delivered with this week's issue) showed that achieving IP is an ambition for many optometrists but the numbers qualifying were not keeping pace with the numbers of new optometrists joining the register each year.

Despite little medical opposition 'the inertia and fear of the unknown is manifest in the leadership of the optometric professional bodies, principally the College, which is cautious and risk averse, in the extreme', Rumney said.