Keep an eye on the children

When childhood vision loss made headlines this week the news desk was a little confused as to why optical professionals were not billed as either the problem or the solution.

Indeed, advice to worried parents was to ‘mention it to your health visitor or doctor who is likely to refer you to an ophthalmologist – a medical doctor who specialises in examining, diagnosing and treating eyes and eye diseases’.

What about the clinical expertise of community optometrists though? There was no mention of optical practices and school screening did not enter the equation either.

A phone call to the College of Optometrists confirmed parents should seek their high street optometrist, something that would doubtless help curb the 9 per cent rise in childhood blindness and vision loss reported in this week’s news.