Secondary care cut backs affect pre-reg teaching

As  details of the Simon Steven's penned five year plan for the NHS hit the press stands, I was made acutely aware this week of the insidious influence of health budget restrictions on the practice of optometry.

Every year I help in the training of pre-registration optometrists. One area where they can prove to assessors their competence is when discussing referrals or how they managed patients in whom they have identified a problem but have not referred. Cataract is a good discussion area. If a cataract has been identified but referral is not warranted, then their record card has to reflect that the condition has been explained to the patient (even if not yet affecting their vision), that any possible risk factors (smoking, UV exposure) have been highlighted and explained, and that the patient knows what to look out for in the future and what to do.