Cameron’s reference to dark room discussions with Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg after the last election was the closest optics got to a mention during the final BBC Question Time election special last week, although Labour leader Ed Miliband’s stumble off the podium did much to stress the importance of regular eye exams. He too wanted to avoid the dark room, and succeeded.
Indeed, after last night’s count the Cameron can head to Buckingham Palace, and not the dark room, while Clegg and Miliband will be trying to look on the bright side of life.
It was unsurprising that very little of the election debating on the NHS was centred around eye health. Fear not, though, because Optician Online has posted video highlights from the profession’s very own Question Time event at Optrafair last month. In a one-hour session, optical leaders from both independent and multiple practices answered questions across a range of subjects including expansion, devolution of services, advertising and free eye tests – key political issues in their own right.
Meanwhile, the fleeting dark room discussion parallels could be a poignant reminder for practitioners to strike up a rapport lasting at least five more years with patients, only without too much mention of immigration, the economy or the NHS.
