Chris Bennett: Understanding local eye health needs

Simple questions are always the best and Bill Harvey poses just such an enquiry in his conversation with Dr Nizar Hirji on local eye health needs in this week’s issue .

The temptation to corporatise and homogenise health is always present. Care is cheaper to deliver in bulk and treating everyone the same is simpler and quicker. There can be few things politicians, civil servants and the NHS like more than simplifying processes and saving money.

Sadly not all patients, localities, and therefore eye health needs, are the same. Evidence for the diversity of needs and habits in neighbouring areas will be presented at the forthcoming Vision 2020 meeting in London later this month. One size does not fit all, Dr Hirji suggested that extrapolating figures to suggest otherwise is naive and irresponsible.