Optician’s newsroom at last month’s Optrafair not only provided a chance for show-goers to post their stories on the Optician website but it also gave Optician the opportunity to get some face-to-face time with its readers.
Two meetings in particular stand out for me and both conversations have lead to coverage in Optician.
Experience is one of those things that money can’t buy, you don’t achieve it through CET points and sadly it’s an attribute which gets harder to come by as the structure of the market changes. Roy Carpenter, a retired practitioner, approached the Optician office with an altruistic idea.
Having gathered so much experience over the years, but enjoying retirement in the sun, he wondered if Optician’s readers might be interested in the benefit of his career experience. Look out for some articles on handling stress and cognitive impairment soon.
Much more topical is the letter from Peter Sanders on VDU testing. He came into the office with a young DO colleague to raise the issue of corporate VDU eye care providers. These are the characters who tout the services of optical practitioners around to businesses on the premise of offering VDU testing. The use of the term VDU, visual display unit, says everything that you need to know about this outdated and arcane regulation.
As Sanders rightly points out these firms are underselling, often without prior arrangement, your professional services. Sanders is right to urge practices to turn away those waving an underpriced voucher but as a business owner he understands the value of the footfall and understands the angle corporate eyewear providers are exploiting.
Offering eye examinations to staff who use a computer screen is a legal requirement so why not get some face to face time with local firms and offer the service direct?
