Letters: February 1

Nicholas Taylor-Jones’s letter in Optician (January 18) made depressingly familiar reading. Why do opticians get so hung up on being a member of a profession or find it embarrassing to own a shop which looks after its customers? I do understand optometrists wishing to refer to the person they are examining as a patient, but I’m afraid that patient is a customer when it comes to dispensing and moreover someone that still needs to be looked after professionally.

If Nicholas and others really must insist that they are members of a ‘profession’, then you need to differentiate yourselves from the unqualified and should be agreeing with me that it is very unprofessional to phone up another optician to find out what your ‘patient’ is wearing.