Chris Bennett: Kiss and makeup

If optical professionals saw their patients more often we would be in a much better position to solve many of the woes highlighted weekly in the pages of Optician.

Kiss is a strategy universally rolled out at business seminars so when it comes to education of patients why does optics fail to Keep It Simple Stupid? The multifarious trade bodies and pressure groups and the supply industry all make huge efforts to promote good eye care but why not use the obvious route – the high street optician. It’s a strategy the multiples are using to great effect.

The latest attempt by the GOC to educate the public about the need for proper contact lens care highlights how the best laid plans can be tripped up by their own complexity. It sought to control contact lens supply from the internet without prescriptions or regard for safety through a supplier code of conduct. What it has ended up with is a fluffy PR campaign to the public.