Bill Harvey: How many is enough

There is a guest editorial piece in the latest issue of OPO that is well worth a read. John Lawrenson and Robert Harper raise some concerns regarding the potential dangers to the optometry profession caused by the rapid expansion in numbers of optometry students in the UK.

There is an assumption that the increase in the need for eye care that is concomitant with an increase in the number of older people in the UK justifies the need for more optometrists. This view has little evidence to support it beyond an often-cited survey undertaken by the College of Optometrists back in 2000 for which there was only a 32% response uptake and which concluded that further investigation is warranted. Since then, the Office of National Statistics has reported a 75% increase in the number of registered optometrists (from 8,646 in 2000 to 15,151 in 2017), during which time the population has only grown by 12%.