Howls of disdain heard from the profession when mention is made of online spectacle sales or, worse still, online refraction are in danger of ringing slightly hollow.
It’s often said that when you are looking for one thing you stumble across another and such was the case with Johnson & Johnson’s excellent breakfast discussion on the emotional impact of presbyopia (In Focus, page 4).
The contact lens giant had brought together optometrists, patients and media folk to discuss the emotional journey into presbyopia. Patients and professionals explained their experiences and a good discussion was had on the topic.
What no one around the table was expecting was the opprobrium heaped on high street opticians by the patients. Their experiences were universally negative, all felt the questioning of lifestyles and needs was lacking and their treatment impersonal. Well-worn phrases such as conveyor belt and box ticking littered the description of their experiences which were characterised by quick eye examinations centred on selling spectacles with little discussion of lifestyle or optical needs. Those patients who expressed an interest in contact lenses were told they would need to book another appointment. The questionnaires patients mentioned were considered to be box ticking exercises.
Much talk has taken place about communication, skills within optometry and the wider health issues of visiting an optometrist but the profession is playing a dangerous game in talking the talk but not walking the walk. There are practices that offer comprehensive, empathetic and unhurried eye examinations – at a price. The goal must be for that to become the norm if optics is to assume the mantle it wants both in primary care and business success.
The profession can make its own delineations but the public’s psyche is not infinitely nuanced. Practitioners sitting aloof, safe in their own belief they are doing the right thing may find themselves tarred with the same brush.
