Letter: In defence of (some) locums

I too am an optometrist, and thoughI do not share the political achievements of my esteemed (though unnamed) colleague, I do broadly agree with his or her aspirations of how we should perform our duties as a member of this profession. Though, strictly speaking, I am not a locum – more a self-employed practitioner of long standing at two east midland independent practices – I have worked and do work alongside locums who I unhesitatingly entrust my personal eye care to.

They, like me, have strong ethics regarding patient care and our attitude is far from apathetic. Between us we have voluntarily enrolled in enhanced services such as diabetic retinopathy monitoring, low vision care, triage, Wopec, etc. I think that I can speak for all of us that we take exception to being tarred with the same brush as individuals who go through the motions of sight testing and with no interest in the eye care of their patients. All of us regularly get behind our schedules because of ‘going the extra mile’ to ensure our respective patients receive the best care and advice.