Rise in attendance for latest PAC Conference

Around 1,100 practitioners attended Specsavers' PAC Conference at the ICC in Birmingham, an increase on last year. The high number led to at least one lecture being run a second time and every presentation was well attended.

Workshops were introduced this year for the first time, with Phil Gilbert of Zeiss lenses and optometrist Andrew Keirl hosting two workshops. Gilbert and Keirl challenged the practical problem-solving and occupational and lifestyle dispensing skills of delegates.

Following Waterloo University's Professor Lyndon Jones' successful attempt to challenge practitioner preconceptions about silicone hydrogel lenses, Manchester University's Dr Phil Morgan's review of contact lens care systems concluded that the outbreaks of CL-related infections seen recently appear to be isolated and related to specific circumstances and/or products. One area practitioners should strongly influence is that of customer compliance with CL care regimes. This was complemented by Nick Pope's lively presentation rooted in social psychological research, with a practical exploration of how compliance can be directly influenced by practitioners. Optician clinical editor Bill Harvey gave a lecture looking at how controllable risk factors for eye disease may be exploited by practitioners to help prevent future sight loss.