Christmas offers a welcome respite to optical practices as the lure of holly and high street shopping empty appointment books and bring calm to consulting rooms. Practice staff can relax a little, optometrists and DOs catch up on their CET and owners review the year gone by.
For many the maelstrom of business change has left them reeling as they try to adapt while continuing to offer the levels of care and service they joined the profession to offer. With festive season upon us we can look to Christmas for a glimmer of hope that change doesn’t have to mean losing the spirit of practice past. In a world where change has become synonymous with positivity and good, it is interesting that Christmas is often cherished for its unchanging nature. Throughout the year we are encouraged to adopt new ideas, change the way we do things and modernise. Come Christmas the old decorations are dusted off, family traditions are conducted with relish and we revel in our ability to enjoy the festive season in the same way as we did when we were kids. Tradition and the old ways rule.
Well almost. Look a little deeper and those old Christmas lights are likely to be LEDs, cards are increasingly replaced by emails and Facebook likes, and do any kids wake to find a tangerine and a walnut stuffed into a sock tied to the end of the bed? Even carol singers have been upstaged by the Christingle. It has all changed.
If you are left feeling optics has lost some of its spirit take a lesson from the festive season. The spirit of Christmas endures; it is how we go about it that will continue to change.
By Chris Bennett, Editor.
