Comment: Leaders in the dock

Optics seems to be undergoing a bit of an Arab Spring of late as meetings are opened up to people power and those in charge placed under the spotlight of cross-examination.

GOC fees will be frozen this year (see news) thanks to the membership, and the profession seems to have developed a taste for more glasnost. Finger pointing is not something the optical profession has gone in for during the recent 'love-in' between the optical bodies, but will more openness foment argument?

Hot on the heels of the Optical Confederation's open domiciliary meeting (02.11.12) the British Contact Lens Association has attempted to put leaders 'in the dock' (see news) which has vented frustrations bubbling under the surface. The opportunity afforded to the profession by the BCLA gave rise to common concerns regularly raised in Optician such as the unregulated sale of optical products, cosmetic contact lenses and substitution.